GoVegetarian's blog

I topple off a cliff, and spiral

into an abyss of madness.

My heart, a pool--

no, an ocean of unhinging thoughts

that are being stirred, mixed, and swirled

by the weather of a teenage mind. Read more »

We can survive without meat. Many people do. So why do we take the lives of helpless creatures, just to settle a craving? Why do we damage our environment to eat something that we don't need? And why do we give ourselves heart disease because we need "just a little" more salty and fatty meat every day? Humans don’t need meat, and by choosing to eat meat, we are damaging the environment, killing animals and hurting ourselves.   Read more »

As a middle school student and a younger member of this community, my first
reaction to the Newtown shooting was, “Oh no. Another one.” It is shocking
to me that nothing has been done to prevent this.

These mass killings aren’t just the fault of individual shooters. They are
the responsibility of our country as a whole. First, we need to think about
how we can identify and help those like Adam Lanza, the gunman in
Connecticut. Second, we need to get serious about controlling the
availability of semi-automatic guns whose only purpose is to kill. Finally,
we need to stop giving kids violent games that make killing seem as easy
and fun as pressing keys on a keyboard.

People argue that this is a mental health issue. So why aren’t we taking the
initiative to help these people? We are just blaming it on the individual. Read more »

A bitter wind cut into my already frost-bitten face. Little drops of water were frozen on the ends of my eyelashes from when I had bathed. My feet were frozen at this point. They felt like blocks of ice in my worn boots. I couldn't feel them, let alone move them! I pulled my hat down further over my eyes to keep the pelting snow from getting to me. The wind whistled around me. The trees swayed, or rather swung, back and forth, back and forth, until I was sure they would be cracked by the icy wind and hurled through the air by a mighty gust. The impossibly deep snow groaned beneath my heavy feet as I walked through it, step by step. I squinted, and it was then I was able to make out through the blizzard a ski lift. I suddenly found new energy, and was able to make my way through the snow to it. The lift's deserted chairs were rusted, and it creaked like the bones of an old man, but I didn't care. I knew it was my ride out of the lonely and solitary woods of Vermont. Climb on, and I'd fly right into the hands of another adventure. 

Night creeps

upon the petrified souls of the

desolate town.

Wraps its inhabitants

in a blanket

of dread.

Seeps through

the blocked doors

of those that want it out.

Prays upon those

It identifies as victims

Those with a shy heart.

Engulfs them Read more »

When she was four, she knew she was the center of the universe. She danced, jumped and sang freely in the center of New York City and just waved and smiled if anyone laughed or stared. Confident and energetic, the world revolved around her. Read more »

I stood at the window, watching the red tail lights disappear. Slowly but surely, they faded away into the mist, and then vanished altogether. It was then that it hit me, like someone had punched me in the stomach. I was alone. Unprotected, vulnerable, and scared. No one was there to whisper soothing words into my ear that would make me feel better. I was on my own, and I would have to face the night by myself.

I pulled away from the window and took a deep breath. I turned slowly and took in my surroundings. Everything looked black. Black and ominous. I suddenly had the urge to run and scream, but something kept my feet glued to the ground.

But was I really alone? No. My mother was still there. Still there in my heart, keeping me safe, not in the black car that had driven her lifeless body away to the graveyard. She would always be there, always be there for me.

I wasn't alone, and I never would be.

I was never one to believe in magic. "Children's tales" I had even called it earlier that day when my sister claimed she had visited the tooth fairy in fairy land. 

Oh, how my cheeks burn when I think of magic, and what happened to me that day. That day when I made my sister cry by telling her she believed in something that didn't exist. That day I tripped down the stairs and never landed. That day I flew.

Flying wasn't exciting like I thought it would be. The whole time I could only picture the smug look on my sister's face, and how she would taunt me when I landed. I could almost see her smirk as she watched me zip through the sky. 

I didn't notice the city slowly turn into beautiful mountains, rivers, and valleys. I couldn't feel the wind caress my cheeks as it blew around me. I couldn't hear the birds chirping and they flew by me. I couldn't smell the cool, crisp autumn air that filled my nostrils an I soared through the air.

I could only see my sister's conceited face.

I didn't notice when it got dark. I didn't notice when the wind pick up. I didn't notice the birds leave the air. Read more »

We can survive without meat. Many people do. So why do we take the lives of helpless creatures, just to settle a craving? Why do we damage our environment to eat something that we don't need? And why do we give ourselves heart disease because we need "just a little" more salty and fatty meat every day? Humans don’t need meat, and by choosing to eat meat, we are damaging the environment, killing animals and hurting ourselves.  

I mean, how would you like it if we traded places with animals and were separated from our parents at birth, kept in tiny enclosure, treated gruffly, slaughtered while we were still toddlers so we would be "tender," and eaten by cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens every night for dinner? And pigs are smart too. Dr. Donald Broom, a Cambridge University professor says pigs "have the cognitive ability to be quite sophisticated. Even more so than dogs and certainly [more so than] three-year-olds.” So eating a pig is like eating your dog, or even your toddler.  Although some animals need to eat meat to live, humans don’t, so why should we eat it? No living thing, whether it is a pig, sheep, cow, dog, chicken, or human deserves to be killed and eaten by someone or something that doesn’t need meat to live.  Read more »

I never knew the true meaning of "gut wrenching" until this moment. My stomach leapt into the air, hit the roof of my belly, and did a triple front flip before landing and trembling in a corner of my abdomen. I felt the grilled cheese sandwich I had eaten for lunch coming up, the acids burning my throat. A scream escaped my lips and I lifted a sweaty palm to silence the shriek. I lifted one shaky leg at a time, trying to get myself out of the room. I had to lean my quivering body against the wall so I didn't collapse. I tried my hardest to keep the horrible pictures of what I had just seen out of my mind, but they kept slipping back in. 

I had to stop. The energy drained from my body. My legs wouldn't carry me any further. They collapsed beneath me, and the world went black.