Hey, Folks.

I just checked the Bonnywood Archives, and it startled me to realize that it’s been nearly a year since I did a full feature on another blogger. Not only is this a shocking dereliction of duty on my part, it underscores something I’ve been pondering during this “start of a new year” period wherein many decent humans contemplate how they can continue being decent humans.

Of course, many of these contemplations hit the dustbin by week two of January because, after all, we are human, and our good intentions often fail to materialize as good actions. Still, I’d like to revive some of the older Bonnywood traditions that I have woefully neglected in the past year. (It would be easy to blame Covid, but really, I’ve been a bit lazy. Lounging around in my pajamas all day because we can’t go anywhere is no excuse for lack of gumption) So, I’m resuscitating the “Blogger Spotlight” series in the hopes that at least some aspects of Bonnywood can get back to where they once belonged. And here we go…

Billy has one of those blogs where the writer mixes things up a bit, which is actually my favorite kind of site to visit, as you never know exactly what you’re going to get. Billy shares a lot of detailed pieces concerning Scottish history (don’t let that scare you if you’re not a history buff, because the stories are quite fascinating), but he also throws in personal reflections and poetry and celebrations of food and one-off pieces about this and that. Good stuff, and I am always entertained.

Traditionally, with these Spotlights, I scroll through the blogger’s archives and select a post that I think best represents them as an introduction. (This usually works quite swimmingly, but there have been a few hiccups where things went awry. One blogger I featured didn’t even “like” the post and has never spoken to me again. Such are the whimsical ways of amateur patronage.) In this case, I decided to let Billy pick out his own selection, as I wasn’t sure which of his writing flavors he wanted to highlight. He chose one of his poems, which somewhat surprised me, but now that I think back, it really shouldn’t have. Enjoy.

Animal Life

Ever wondered what it’s like trying to SURVIVE

animals have that right so let’s keep them ALIVE

let them escape people who hunt for fun

Struggling to know when and if they shoot the gun.

Asking to be spared without having a voice

pleading with intelligence who really have a choice

wishing to be spared to roam and freely live

But the question on my lips is, DO ANIMALS FORGIVE?

We kill them for their meat needing to survive

How dare we think animals have a right to be alive!

I wonder if they think out loud “we do not hunt for man”

But maybe in the future that might be their plan.

They hunt amongst themselves they have to kill to eat

only cos they have to not because of a treat

getting pleasure killing animals is pitiful, and sad

We teach our children daily that animals ain’t bad.

God made this earth for all life to live hand in hand

I don’t think he realized what man had secretly planned!

We need to live beside the animals we love

From elephants to tigers and flying turtle-doves.

To hunt animals for profit is tragic and a waste

It’s bad enough murdering them for palates of human tastes

When we see there’s nothing left will we be content?

Or will we seek out other life to help the sporty gent?

Kill animals for food as we need to survive

But for pleasure and profit KEEP THEM ALIVE.

You can peruse more of Billy’s work by clicking here. If you have comments specifically for Billy, please be gracious enough to make them on the original post found here so Billy can be assured of receiving your thoughts.

Note: Photo “borrowed” from Billy’s site. I also inserted line breaks into the poem for easier reading.

Special note to Billy: I wasn’t sure if you like to go by “Billy” or “William”, so I went with Billy since you didn’t slap me when I called you that in our sidebar conversations. However, if you’d prefer William, just give me a holler and I can do some quick editing, won’t bother me at all…