The Ass that Horsed Around

 

 

The story is told of a faithful ass

That one day horsed around

Or so it appeared to his master

That actually beat him to the ground.

 

He always did his master’s bidding

But one day he resisted,

His master got particularly angry

And vehemently insisted.

 

The ass began to horse around

And behaved like a mule,

The man became increasingly mad

And acted like a fool.

 

Instead of being reasonable

He started to smite the ass,

Nothing like this had ever happened

But proper thinking became a task.

 

The man was on a mission

That he should not have been on

And the fact the way was blocked

Had not upon him dawned.

But the ass was quite aware

And veered off into a field

Whereupon his master smote him

Refusing to take his lead.

 

The ass had no other option

Than to rush against the wall,

Again, the master smote him

Causing the ass to fall.

 

With the ass upon the ground

His master beat him with his staff,

What happened next my goodly friend

Would make most people laugh.

 

The ass began to talk

And his master answered back,

The poor animal was an ass

But his master had to be half-cracked.

 

Never before had this man owned

An ass that talked to him

And the fact that he had answered back

Says he must have been pretty dim.

 

The eyes of the ass were opened

Before his master’s own were,

Finally, he saw who blocked the path

And with his ass concurred.

It was the angel of the Lord

And in his hand, he held a sword,

He had stood in the way of the man

For he heeded not his word.

 

I have a very strong feeling

That by now you know the man,

But just in case you do not

Let me introduce you to Balaam.

 

However, my focus was not on him

But on his ass that horsed around,

That is how it must have appeared

To Balaam who proved to be quite dumb.

 

Stewart Russell © April 2020