I saw a donkey at a fair
When sounds and songs were in the air;
But he no note interpreted
Of what the people sang or said.
Hitched by a halter to a rail
He twitched his ears and twirled his tail;
In every lineament and line
He was completely asinine.
Though I had heard in local halls
Some eulogies on animals,
I thought it would be utter blindness
To show him any sort of kindness.
It seemed to me that God had meant
To make him unintelligent,
And wanted us to keep our places,
I in my clothes, he in his traces.
And so I turned my mind to things
Like banners, balls, balloons and rings,
For which I had to pay my share
And went on purpose to a fair.
But down the midways while I went
On all the pageantry intent,
I stopped, and started to remember
A little stable in December,
Battered by wind and swathed in snow,
Nearly two thousand years ago,
When one poor creature like to this
Saw Mary give her Child a kiss.
So back I sauntered to the rail,
And stared at him from head to tail,
And gave his cheek a little pat,
Or two, — and let it go at that.
From — Boundaries
