The Talking Donkey

A man

Named Bilam,

A people-pleaser, and

A freelance speaker of 

Curses and blessings,

Had a donkey

That he rode 

To his professional engagements.  

 

One day Bilam was hired

By a fearful king,

Balak,

To professionally curse

A passing people

Whom the king felt threatened by

(To be fair, there were a lot of them).

On Bilam’s way to the gig,

Riding his donkey,

An angel appeared.

Wielding a big sword

And much opposition 

To the cursing job at hand,

And very prepared to kill Bilam 

To prevent this outcome. 

Bilam could not see the angel

But the donkey could

So she refused to go forward.  

Twice Bilam beat the donkey to force her forward

And twice she refused. 

Frustrated and hurt and bored by the abuse

The donkey finally spoke up. 

“I can’t go on,“ said the donkey.

 “I see an angel with a sword in the path ahead.“

Bilam beat the donkey some more.

“You can hit me all you want,” the donkey said,

“But I see what I see. 

When have I ever lied to you before?”

Bilam had to admit that this was so,

Whereupon he was able to see the angel 

And have a conversation.  

The story goes on, 

That even though Bilam tries to curse the passing horde

He finds himself only able to praise them,

Much to Balak’s chagrin,

And the story ends with Bilam’s beautiful blessing,

“How good are your tents, O Jacob…”

Nothing more is heard from the donkey.

Poor beast.

When you are a talking donkey, 

You see stuff.

and when you see stuff 

You say stuff. 

It’s not always welcome, 

and you get yelled at, 

A lot

Because often you don’t say truth in a way 

That people can or want to

Understand.

But if an angel with a sword is standing in the path, 

And if you are a talking donkey,

You stop 

And try to make your point. 

And if you’re with that beast

It might behoove you to listen

No matter how annoying she may be.   

 

Life as a talking donkey can be hard:

You are often not particularly beloved. 

No one chooses you for their team on the playground. 

People-pleasers may hit you

And sometimes angels slay you

But mostly everyone ignores you. 

But if you see stuff

You gotta say stuff.  

It is in your nature,

You talk. 

 

There are times, 

When grief and fear have taken over. 

When everyone is Balak

And all they can see are threatening hordes. 

It may be that we are in one of those times.

And it is upon all the donkeys to speak up

To remind us of what,

In our panic, 

We cannot see. 

 

The donkey sometimes sees the perpetrators

And the hate for what it often is:

Fear.   

And they are right to be afraid:

Change is hard, 

Just ask Balak.  

 

But the donkey sometimes also sees the activists 

And their despair for what it is:

Compassion.  

And they are right to feel others’ pain and joy.

Prophecy is hard,

Just ask Bilam. 

 

And sometimes the donkey also sees the survivors

And their persistence and stubbornness for what they are:

Hope.

And they are right to look towards the future but

Imagining happy endings is hard,

Just ask those passing hordes.

 

So,

In conclusion:

You can’t hide from talking donkeys:

They never shut up.  

And the next time you meet a talking donkey, 

She might say something true

That ends in a beautiful blessing

Or she might not.

Either way,

Please 

Do not hit her,

Poor beast.

 

Amen.