Flowers from Life

　“The flowers have bloomed!// We did it!”// We shouted with joy/when we saw the yellow and orange marigolds/that we had been looking after.// We were studying animal science.// So why did we grow flowers?//
　Everything started two years earlier.// In our first year,/we all lived in a dormitory.// We got up at six,/and cleaned the smelly cowshed and chicken cages.// We were proud of doing these tasks/to raise living creatures.//
　The toughest and most shocking lesson/was butchering chickens.// “Work quickly!”// Our teachers ordered us/as we followed their directions.// In the end,/we cooked and ate the poultry.// And we understood the true meaning of “Itadakimasu.”//

　In our second year,/we visited an animal shelter.// A staff member explained,/“Last year/some 1,150 dogs were brought here.// About 350 were returned/or given to new owners.// The remaining 800 dogs were put down.”//
　We couldn’t make sense of the numbers.// We understood/that there were inevitable reasons,/but humans were to blame/for most of the deaths.//
　The next institution was cold and ugly.// A veterinarian calmly explained her job,/then broke into tears.// In a trembling voice,/she said,/“We don’t need places like this!”// She had become a vet/to save lives,/but her work was the opposite.//
　Outside,/we saw sacks of bones/for garbage pick-up.//

　The next day,/after school,/we didn’t feel like leaving soon.//
　“I hate them/being thrown out like garbage.”//
　“What can we do?”//
　“Pounded animal bones can be used as fertilizer.”//
　“Who would eat vegetables grown/with bone fertilizer?”//
　“What about flowers?”// This is how/five of us started the “Flowers from Life” project.//
　In April of our final year,/two sacks of bones arrived.// It was hard to break them.// Trowels didn’t work,/so we used bricks.// Day after day/we continued in silence.// “Crushing the bones of dead dogs....// What are we doing?!”//
　Three weeks later,/we had enough fertilizer/and planted marigold seeds.// We hoped our “flowers from life” would bloom!//

　Soon sprouts appeared.// We watered them carefully.// The flowers bloomed/as if the dogs had returned.//
　In May,/we gave a presentation/on “Flowers from Life”/at an event.// We took our marigolds/with a sticker on each pot:/“Project for Zero Killing.”// We explained/how difficult and heartbreaking it was/to crush bones.// When we finished talking,/people came one by one and asked,/“Could I have a plant?”//
　We gave away every flower!// We felt happy to think/that we could hand over “the baton of life”/to many people.//
　The younger students at our school/have taken over this project.// It will take time,/but we believe/more people will become aware,/and fewer animals will suffer.//