Clickety-clack, crunch, stamp
Clickety-clack, crunch, stamp

And another can of tuna is made
For America to devour

Giant stainless steel cylinders
Greased to perfection
And only minor rust
And a roach
And a thin wall of dust
Make this place approach
Condemnation

A workmen urinates in the drain
Which is broken at the bottom
And a slimy film seeps into the tuna bin

A glazed eye on a conveyor belt
Peers as if in shock
As it goes from here to there
On its way to become
Miss Cat Food of 1971
_______________

And the head
(Aware of this last moment to speak
Before being placed in its aluminum grave
To be opened at a later date
To fill the belly of that
Which also will someday die
And be put to the earth)

Sings

Opens its fish mouth and sings
_______________

A tuna I am
Or was as the case may be
I never knew of dying
Or of humanity

I knew of coral reefs
And octopus and squid
And I knew a gentleman tuna
One night on the ocean bed

We fishes have our parties
You can buy Ancient Age for a fin
And I've stayed late at the Grunion's
And left too drunk to swim

But frivolity was over
When the net pulled up on the beach
Now my hope is that some American
Will choke as he eats my meat
______________

The gaping mouth
Of the tuna head grinder
Swallows up the singing head
And many others that happen to be there

The vast array of powerful canning machinery
Roars to a hush
And the tuna maker's day ends
And the guide says "Follow me"
_______________

We open upon a room
With a coffee urn
Some salt crackers
Photographs and advertisements of various tunas
Done by the Art and Propaganda Department
Hanging by thumbtacks
On the Corporate Bulletin Board

Plaques commemorating large tuna kills
And the quality of the mercury content
And for meeting minimal fecal material standards

And in the middle of a large round table
In the very center of the room
A mammoth baked tuna
Surrounded by slices of boiled eggs
And withered parsley
And what appeared to be a seafood stuffing
Flowing out of its mouth

Several forkfuls of its meat
Had been removed from near its spine
And apparently consumed

The guide says "Help yourself,
It's part of the tour"
_______________

I canceled my tour for the next day
Of the glue factory