Call me Benji

 

 

Benji, as you know,

Is the short for Benjamin

As in the Animal Farm satire

Also made into a film.

 

Call me Benji if you like

Since this case is not formal

And as you know,

Donkeys are not people.

 

I played a support role

In a number of Bible events

But two in particular

Better illustrate my intent.

 

 

I could speak of Saul

Who became Israel’s first king

And his search for asses…

Oh boy, isn’t that a thing?

 

 

 

I could talk of Balaam

And about his talking jackass

That had more sense than he,

Boy, wasn’t that class?

 

I carried a king twice:

To his birth and to his death,

If you read the Bible often

You’d know the rest.

 

I belonged to Joseph;

He was a respectable man

Thus, one of my supporting roles

Was in redemption’s plan.

 

Mary was pregnant

But they had a problem

And because of a Roman census

They went to Bethlehem.

 

 

I had to carry Mary

And her unborn child

Whom many would refer to as,

Jesus meek and mild.

 

At the time of the census

I did not know this

But carrying the Christ child,

I’d never want to miss.

 

That was some honour,

Oh, it was so sweet,

God’s mode of transportation

Was Benji’s footsure feet.

 

Call me a jackass

But I felt like a king

When I carried the King of kings!

Wasn’t that something?

 

I was in the stall too

When the shepherds came,

They were joyful and happy

Praising Jehovah’s name.

 

No wisemen were there;

Not in that stall,

Contrary to popular belief,

There were none at all.

 

Some years after

A close relative of mine

Also played a supporting role

In an event in his time.

 

 

His name was also Benji

Just like most donkeys

So, I will let him tell his experience

For posterity.

 

I was tied up

When these men came,

I believe they spoke to my owner

And mentioned a name.

 

All I heard was master

And having need of me,

And then thy took me away

This master for to see.

 

None had sat me before

So this was an honour,

Just four spindly legs

But I was carrying all power.

 

Jesus was fully grown then,

Not a baby anymore

But Benji, the second, back then,

Was just as footsure.

 

At Jesus’ birth

The town was Bethlehem

But this was the capital city,

Specifically, Jerusalem.

 

I walked on palm leaves

And on people’s clothes,

Nothing like as with Balaam

Delivering those blows.

 

I can still hear shouting

As the people rejoiced

Not knowing a few days later

They’d be another choice.

 

 

“Hosanna,” they shouted,

As I carried him

But later it was “Crucify him!”

Though he had no sin.

 

 

 

No fault had been found

But Jesus had to die

And so, “Hosanna in the Highest”

Changed to “Crucify!”

 

Two life-changing events

In fulfilment of prophecy:

The latter: The Triumphal Entry

The former: The Nativity.

 

Two premiere events

In which Benji took part

So next time you see a jackass,

Please have a heart.

 

Stewart Russell © December 10, 2024

 

Okay Careful Now!

 

 

I am not who I am

I am someone else,

What you see is a projection-

I am not myself.

 

I am not what I am

I am something else,

So that what you see is not me

It is something else.

 

Remember Flip Wilson?

What you see is what you get?

Face value can be misleading

Leading to regret.

 

Judge not a book by its cover

Or look a gift horse in the mouth

For given today’s technology

That roar might be a mouse.

 

Nice hips and whatever else

May not be what you think,

Look before you leap

Over the proverbial brink.

 

 

Not a high pitch tone

But more like a base?

Okay, please be careful now,

This could be a trans case.

 

Taken for granted

Could result in pain,

What looks like a donkey

May well be a Great Dane.

 

What God has created

Man attempts to manipulate

And often when he has finished

It is more like mutilate.

 

Switching out genitalia

Through multiple procedures:

Woman becoming man and vice versa

With altered features.

 

Leaving God’s basic template

And becoming rather queer

Yet, pressing for recognition

In all that is fair.

 

Multiplying the genders

And, exponentially so,

As to how many there are

I really don’t know.

 

They refer to science

Especially of the medical type

And on the erroneous

They mount their ongoing fight.

 

They grab at straws

And create obvious strawmen

But society at large

Don’t see a problem.

 

Children are disadvantaged

But haven’t this always been?

Single parents and adultery

Are still on the scene.

 

 

Human rights and equal rights

Must be accorded to all

Regardless of whatever gender

By which I choose to be called.

 

Reform the social construct

Reform the education

Reform the Constitution

And make abnormal the norm.

 

And what a great people

We would all become

For the feeling I have within

Would get any job done!

 

 

No absolutes, please!

Let everything be fluid

For in the absence of the absolute

Everything is relative.

 

Sounds like a plan?

One that can really work?

Well, whether we believe it or not,

It’s the view of the so-called experts.

 

Stewart Russell © February 1, 2023

 

Animal Like Behaviour

 

 

They say that we are animals

A higher class of course

But often times we behave

Much lower than the worse.

 

And we may earn their names

By some of the things we do

Though this is highly offensive

To both me and to you.

 

Like “you stupid old goat”

When we do something foolish

Or, what a “sloppy pig”!

When what we do is a mess.

 

What an “ignorant donkey”!

Just don’t use the other name,

Male it is, not female,

But both genders are to blame.

 

 

Dare to stand your ground

And you are a “stubborn mule”

Or do something most despicable

And “dog’ is the naming tool.

 

Go back on your word

And you are a “backbiting snake”,

Or “chameleon” might be better

Just to show you are a fake.

 

Some authority on looks

May refer to another as a “monkey”

And if perchance one’s ears shoot out

“Bat-ears” it then would be.

 

 

A lowdown act: you’re a “dog”

Lower than that you’re a “snake”

And for females in pregnancy

She waddles like a “duck”, not “drake”

 

I had to put that in

Because of the confusion gender wise,

These days you mightn’t be sure

Some don’t wear disguise.

  

Check out the “lower animals”

They are surer than we are,

Especially when mating time comes around

They make more sense by far.

 

How can I leave out the “sheep”?

This is a regular name,

It is the one I mostly like

For I am one, in Jesus’ name.

 

The good shepherd calls us such

Especially, when we follow him,

He gave his life for his dear “sheep”

To free those “sheep” from sin

 

“Wolf” is the name for those

Pretending that they are “sheep”

However, they don’t eat grass

Their diet is strictly meat.

 

 

“Vipers” is one we hear from Jesus,

In the same verse “serpents” is used,

Matthew 23:33 is the text…

Such people are without excuse.

 

I choose to end with the following:

These are “turtledove” and “lamb”,

The former is a romantic term

The latter is held in the Shepherd’s hand.

 

For when as “lambs” we frisk around

We sometimes go astray,

It’s then the Shepherd breaks our leg

And carries us along the way.

 

Just one set of footprints

The prints of the Shepherd’s feet

Not yours or mine, I hope you see

He is carrying his little “sheep”.

 

Stewart Russell © August 2019