Animals: Prose Poems on Sentiency, Decency and Indecency

By Anita Nahal

Anita Nahal's latest volume of poems transforms the derogative "animals" into an honorific. What Zola's 19th-century J'accuse did to the social rights of ordinary men, Nahal's Animals does by extending the natural circle of rights to include animals and bringing shame to numerous incidents of cruelty that humans bestow upon animals. This collection of poems, painful at times in their acute graphic detail on how humanity has fallen from grace, is in essence a call to the prophecy of a new consciousness and a must-read for all that still need convincing that the very measure of our humanity lies in how we respect the dignity of all with whom we share our existence. Nahal's book truly heralds a special dawn of humanistic engagement and self-reflection.

-Dr. Gerrit Dielissen, Sociology Professor, Utrecht University, the Netherlands

The loftiest goal of any poet is to engender empathy. Animals: prose poems on sentiency, decency, and indecency by Dr. Anita Nahal attempts this through a direct approach. The reader is not asked to relinquish their omnivore habits, nor adopt them, but to consider the roles played in our lives by animals and whether it is our responsibility, alongside taking care of the planet, to treat animals with dignity and respect. This book is an educated modern woman's heartfelt offering. Dr. Nahal's compassion and observation of animal existence and what we can improve are both necessary and urgent. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, you're sure to consider this more closely as these powerful poems reveal their truth.

-Candice Louisa Daquin, Senior Editor, Indie Blu(e) Publishing

Dr. Anita Nahal's Animals is a moving and potent prose poetry collection, rich in empathy and compassion, exposing the "thoughtless sentiency" of many humans who fail to fully, if at all, contemplate the inner lives and feelings of other species, the "so-called non-sentients," with whom we share this planet Earth. With compelling storytelling and rich rhythmic language, Nahal urges us to "stop pedestalizing" ourselves and consider: "What is the heart if the heart can't feel?" Animals is a vitally salient collection for these often-inhumane times.

-John Burroughs, 2022-2023 U.S. National Beat Poet Laureate

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1639807381
• ISBN13: 9781639807383
• Release Date: May 2025
• Publisher: Kelsay Books
• Length: 66 Pages
• Weight: 0.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"