A Donkey’s Tale

“Beast of burden” has been my name

My home uncharted, the wild terrain

Sure-footed, though some think me slow

I tread in places they cannot go

And bear their weights upon my back

Sparing strength, where others lack

For the poorer among the nations

The only feasible transportation

From season to season, and place to place

I carry their burdens, and do so with grace.

…

But all loads are not equal, as you will soon know.

Like that of a woman, some long years ago –

And a boy, in her womb, in the cart behind me

To lighten their journey, the maker assigned me

Into a town, my task to bring

In shrouded form, the highest King.

…

Her trial to bear, though mine to share

Against the backdrop of poverty, pain,

Oppression, confusion, and fear, he came

Bringing light to the darkest places

The night sky, a manger, forgotten faces

Of blue-collared shepherds, and then the likes

Of me,

Who stomps among the dikes.

…

For the greatest must be the servant of all,

He said, while breaking his body like bread

And spilling his blood upon the ground

And sifting the earth for those to be found

And taking the sins of the people who slew him

Transforming the lives of all who knew him

…

Similarities stop, between he and I

At an earlier point, but isn’t it sly…

Of all the beasts of the field, which he owns

He would bring honor to something so low

As a donkey, like me – two times, no less

Once to his birth, and once to his death

I carried the man who died on the wood:

“Beast of burden,” like me. He understood.

…

Many thanks to The Carillon, my local paper, for putting my poem in print!

For the inspiration behind this poem, please visit my earlier post, “A Beast of Burden.”

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Warm wishes,

Lisa