My Donkey and My Ox

My Donkey and My Ox

by Kelp

Except in my imagination,
I will never own a donkey or an ox.
Why do I feel a kinship then
To these beasts of burden?

The stubbornness of the donkey.
The strength of the ox.
Are these my spirit animals?
Was I a donkey or an ox in some past life?
Or maybe the current life?

In the future, he will ride into Jerusalem
Backwards on the back of a donkey.
He can feel the donkey moving under him,
As in stopping and starting and stopping and starting again.
In the future, he will slaughter an ox.
On the altar in Jerusalem.
But will he need to kill the animal?
Or the animal in himself?

If I had a choice to be a donkey or an ox,
It would be hard to choose.

I would choose to be the moon.
The moon that shines so bright
On the donkey and the ox,
And bathes them both in moonlight.
As they sleep so peacefully
Through the fearful night
On a bed of hay
And dream about the awe of the coming day.