Saturday, 04th April 2020
Palm Sunday Poem Number 2
This one is probably my favourite of the two.
Poet: Mary Oliver
THE POET THINKS OF THE DONKEY
On the outskirts of Jerusalem
the donkey waited.
Not especially brave, or filled with understanding,
he stood and waited.
How horses, turned out into the meadow,
leap with delight!
How doves, released from their cages,
clatter away, splashed with sunlight.
But the donkey, tied to a tree as usual, waited.
Then he let himself be led away.
Then he let the stranger mount.
Never had he seen such crowds!
And I wonder if he at all imagined what was to happen.
Still, he was what he had always been: small, dark, obedient.
I hope, finally, he felt brave.
I hope, finally, he loved the man who rode so lightly upon him,
as he lifted one dusty hoof and stepped, as he had to, forward.
There is a beautiful but sad story about the cross that appears on a Donkey’s back.
This poem has been featured on a couple of other blogs that I have found, so I would like to share them here:
Do you have any poems that address a situation from the POV (Point of View) of an animal?
Feel free to share them in the comments!
May your Holy Week be blessed.