Once upon a time there was a donkey
wandering lost in the desert hungry
wondering if anyone could feed him
just a carrot all he wanted to eat
was an orange carrot but nobody
in the desert had an orange carrot
to offer the little hungry donkey
so he kept wandering until he reached
the citadel a fortress on the outskirts
of an oasis where the donkey drank
water from a trough beside a deep well
long ago the donkey grew up inside
the fortress but he never became strong
enough to become a big pack animal
so he spent many years in the desert
wandering between oases in search
of the all-elusive carrot to eat
at the citadel he entered the gates
and met with the sahib his old owner
who let him go to wander the desert
but before he left he told the donkey
he may have some carrots for him to eat
but he couldn't promise or guarantee
any carrots for the donkey to taste
the hungry donkey left feeling bullied
and teased by the powerful grand sahib
then the donkey met with the memsahib
but she looked down him with false pity
then the hungry donkey left the fortress
never having tasted the elusive
orange carrot the sahib brought to mind
but then the donkey made friends with a wolf
who took one look and laughed at his bad luck
no coyote would ever want to eat
such a skinny unhealthy piece of meat
and so they walked the desert together
in search of the all-elusive carrot
and perhaps a juicy hare for the wolf
but in the desert nothing was juicy
except the donkey's imagination
the donkey felt sad to leave the fortress
but it gave him time to think about life
to contemplate all the mistakes he made
as if he atoned for all the mistakes
his luck would change for the better for good
and he would no longer be a hungry
donkey with an oasis all his own
and all the carrots he could ever eat
he thought about going on a hunger
strike but nobody would notice once gone
out of sight, nobody cares, out of mind
if the donkey died nobody would care
the wolf would have none of his self-pity
the donkey would have to prove his self-worth
to the whole world not only to the wolf
the hungry donkey left the citadel
he vowed never to return to a place
where he felt little support from so few
of the teachers who professed no scapegoats
at their school watched the donkey leave for good
he felt their absence but knew they had no
interest in his ideas his attitude
rubbed them backwards against the grain and fur
he had a lot to process from his past
the times had changed the systems of belief
he learned when young ingrained inside his brain
he would somehow have to expel or teach
others there is no excuse for childhood
for accepting erroneous beliefs
to fit in with your childhood friends to laugh
at others with less power or influence
especially when someone mistreats you
once he left the fortress for the desert
the donkey sat with the wolf to discuss
the meaning of darkness the distant stars
sending light waves across the universe
and one day the hungry donkey forgot
to wake up with the wolf after sunrise
and the wolf knew the donkey left this world
to search the universe for a carrot
