The full, pale moon lit up the yard,
so we didn’t need the flashlights for the time being.
There was no dog at the door
and there was no light.
However, there was no car in the driveway.
So, we went straight to the stable door.
We stopped for a moment
but no sound was heard
except for the wailing of the pigs in the pen.
We carefully opened the big gate,
that not locked
but only ajar.
We pushed one wing open just far enough
that we could slip through.
A breathtaking stench hit us,
and I was afraid of fainting.
But I pulled myself together.
Now wasn’t the time
to be weak.

While I took up my observation post,
did you turn on the flashlight
took the camera and started taking pictures.
I could just see
that which was illuminated by the light of the flashlight.
Mother sows lay there in their iron prisons,
that were so tight
that they could just lie in it
and the piglets reached her breasts.
In another dungeon stood young pigs,
covered all over with wounds,
with bitten ears and tails.
And everything was full of dirt.
You could hear her shouting all the time
but it meant nothing
because you didn’t understand it.
Then a scream rang through the stable.
It was like having a baby
a human baby cried.
You shined in the direction
where the scream came from.

„Could it be,
that’s why we treat pigs so badly
because they are so similar to us

with their pink skin
and the clear, intelligent eyes?“
it shot through my head involuntarily,
when I discovered the source of the scream.
It was a piglet
caught in the slatted floor
and now desperately trying to get free.
Then something cracked.
Another scream.
The leg was broken.
 I forgot my task
and everything else
and rushed to the piglet.
You wanted to tell me
I should leave it
it doesn’t make sense.
Even if you could have
you knew exactly
that I didn’t listen to you.
I was in rescue mode
as happened to many
who did it for the first time.
I tried desperately
to get the little leg out.
That the little one with every touch
how on a skewer screamed,
didn’t make things any easier.
I finally succeeded.
Then I held the wounded
frightened bundles of life in hands.
The flashlight went out in a moment
and you suddenly stood in front of me.

„Headlights“ was all you said
whereupon we felt our way to the gate,
as fast as we could
pushed us through the gap
and off we went.
The headlights were still on.

It seemed to me
as if we were standing in the middle of the display
you tore me with you into the grass,
so we crawled on
which wasn’t that easy
with a piglet in his hand,

but now I had it in my head,
to save it.
The man,
probably the farmer
got out of the car.
The headlights had gone out.
He walked across the yard
and turned on the light.
Then he stood there
and looked around suspiciously.
Did he notice
that the gate to the stable was not closed properly,
or was it just instinct
who told him
that something was wrong?

He walked slowly through the meadow
on which we crawled away.
At least we had come this far
that the glow of the courtyard light no longer captured us.

Just a few meters more
than we would have reached the trees.
in their protection
we could get up and run.
Then I suddenly felt a sharp pain.
It was caused by a noose,
wrapped around my leg.
I couldn’t get out.
Still, I did the right thing.
I put the baby in your hand
and implored you
to bring it to safety.
Then I sat up
and pulled the metal noose from my leg.

The police came
and took me with them.
You and the piglet
you were safe.
Me too soon.
Permanent Confiscation.
Theft.
Life,
that wrong lawlessness
was established.