An Understanding

Each one comes through. Ka-Chunk.

Each one comes through. Ka-Chunk.

Each one comes through. Ka-Chunk.

Each comes through ka-chunk. Each through ka-chunk. Each kachunk. Each kachunk. Each ka. Chunk.

Sheep die without a struggle. It’s in their nature.

If they struggled they wouldn’t be sheep, but lions. It's in the nature of sheep to bleat and lions to roar. Sheep to die and lions to kill.

Ka-Chunk.

When they are hauled in on the line they’ve already done struggling and have reached acceptance, which is much easier to achieve if you’re a sheep. Ka-Chunk.

Opposite on the line is Marcus. For variety it’s possible to swap tasks, if the supervisor isn’t looking. Not much variety though. Knife for stun-bolt. Ka-Chunk. But a change is a change.

What if one day a sheep were to be hauled in here and it was fighting for its life like a lion? Then it would be treated with great respect.

The stun-bolt would go in with a whispered salute: I salute you. Ka-Chunk.

The knife would do its work with great reverence. The sheep-like-a-lion would be remembered for a moment or two, maybe spoken of at the smoke break, pondered over.

Ka-Chunk.

But the end result would be the same. So it’s understandable that they don’t struggle.

What if one day a sheep spoke, said brother… please, don’t do this thing? That would be remarkable, sure enough. But it wouldn’t make a hell of a lot of difference in the end. A few more words at smoke break – hey did you hear that? A talking sheep on the line. You’re crazy, know that?

Ka-Chunk.

What if one day a sheep came through and in its eyes was the luster of recognition of mother, of grandpa, of one of the dear departed ones gone upon this earth? If it came to be understood that all living beings on this Earth are one family, related, and that a sheep was only the clothes that the soul of grandpa was choosing to wear for the time being? Ka-Chunk.

Well that understanding might indeed become a problem. It could open up all kinds of delays on the floor, all kinds of doubts, all kinds of hummings-and-hawings before the job got rolling again.

Ka-Chunk.

Because all have families to feed, no shit. A sacrifice to make.

All have to do a thing to get food on the table, nice roast lamb of a Sunday lunch with potatoes and gravy yumyum. Children crowding round, the table, yelling for seconds. All have that thing to do. It’s a sacrifice, know that? Ka-Chunk.

All have to do a thing. Ka-Chunk. All have to do a thing. Ka-Chunk. All have to do a thing. Ka-Chunk. All all have to do a thing ka-chunk. All all have a thing to do a thing kachunk.

Allhavetodoathing.

Ka. Chunk.

It's a sacrifice. All have to kachunk. All kachunk.

Film stills from the brilliant Charles Burnett movie Killer of Sheep (1977)