Saw a TV program about Dancing Bears
\nin Turkey.
\nChildren are delighted
\nto watch these big, surprisingly light-footed beasts
\ndo a jig
\nas their eyes roll lovingly,
\nalmost passionately,
\ntoward their human partners
\n(“Roms,” as gypsies prefer to be called)
\nholding the rope
\nthat leads to their nose. <\/p>\n
It never enters the children’s mind
\nthat the dancing bear
\ncould be anything but happy,
\njust as they are,
\nin watching it.
\nAfter all,
\nwould their parents bring them
\nto watch a horribly cruel display
\nof torture?
\ncould the gay rhythm to which they dance
\npossibly be that of unrelenting, excruciating tugs
\nto the nose-ring, tongue-ring, jaw?
\nand could what the bear goes through
\nin their presence
\nconceivably be only a small glimpse
\nof its agony?
\nYes, they wonder
\nwhy the bear’s nose
\nhas that funny curve,
\nand why its jaw is askew
\nand permanently agape,
\nand why its frothy breath
\nis crimson,
\nbut they assume it’s just smiling.<\/p>\n
So Turkey has finally,
\nofficially,
\nbanned the practice —
\nwhich has not made it disappear,
\nof course,
\nbut has simply made it more profitable
\nto cater to a new demand,
\nin which the bear cub is duly purchased,
\ndisfigured, tortured, displayed,
\nand then sold to animal-welfare activists,
\nwho take it to a retirement farm
\nwhile the Rom re-invests part of his profits
\nin the next bear cub.
\nSupply and demand.
\nMarket economics.<\/p>\n
They say that the nose ring
\nthe world has placed in the Rom people’s noses
\nis almost as painful as the bear’s.
\nBut that’s hard to credit,
\nfrom the bear’s end of the rope…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saw a TV program about Dancing Bears in Turkey. Children are delighted to watch these big, surprisingly light-footed beasts do a jig as their eyes roll lovingly, almost passionately, toward their human partners (“Roms,” as gypsies prefer to be called) holding the rope that leads to their nose. It never enters the children’s mind that … <\/p>\n