Animal Fever

The Elephant Man Was Wrong

I remember that movie…

Based on a true story it was

Elephantiasis .. a terrible thing

With which he suffered horribly

Not just from the disease

It’s disfiguring …

Making him seem less… human

Making him an object of scorn and ridicule

I recall vividly the scene where he declared…

“I am not an animal…”

He was wrong

Joseph Merrick was indeed an animal

A warm blooded oxygen breathing mammal

As am I

As are you…

Unless a cold blooded reptile or amphibian is reading this..

Possibly an alien being a la Men in Black or Star Trek…

I doubt it

We are all animals

We have the same basic biological and physiological needs

As an ape, a raccoon, a bear …

As our faithful dog…

Food, water, shelter, oxygen …

We are birthed

We grow

We age

Eventually… we die

In the meantime we eat, drink, excrete, procreate

We continue the line..

Following those instinctive built in urges

Thankfully.. we have a one up

On the rest of the animals..

Or .. two up

Two thumbs up

Opposable thumbs

Without which we could not have built

What passes for a civilization

Tools… traps… machines

Computers.. cell phones.... skyscrapers

We have a brain that is able to absorb vast amounts

Process thoughts beyond those of other mammals

Yet, we are still merely another species

Of the many millions or billions

Inhabiting this infinitesimal ball of mud in an

Unknowingly vast universe

We are still animals in a zoo…

Our zoo has a satellite we call Luna

Yet it is a cage…

But this species is slowly bending the bars

Eroding the locks on our cage door

One day the human species will actually escape

Rum rampant out the gates

Flooding the space lanes with our presence

On that day the galaxy best lock their doors tight

Meanwhile… let’s try to keep our cage clean

And stop crapping in the water bowl