AUTUMN NEWS FROM THE DONKEY SANCTUARY—again
From Sandra Pady – Founder
It is that time of year: the leaves are turning colour and the donkeys’ coats are thickening. And it is time to enjoy Ken Babstock’s “Autumn News From The Donkey Sanctuary” once again. This lovely, affecting statement was first included in Methodist Hatchet, published by House of Anansi Press.
Autumn News from the Donkey Sanctuary
Cargo has let down
her hair a little and stopped pushing
Pliny the Elder on
the volunteer labour
During summer it was all Pliny the Elder,
Pliny the Elder, Pliny
the – she’d cease only
for scotch thistle, stale Cheerios, or to reflect
flitty cabbage moths
back at themselves
from the wet river-stone of her good eye. Odin,
as you already know,
was birthed under
the yew tree back in May, and has made
friends with a crow
who perches between
his trumpet-lily ears like bad language he’s not
meant to hear. His mother
Anu, the jennet with
soft hooves from Killaloe, is healthy and never
far from Loki or Odin.
The perimeter fence,
the ID chips like functional cysts slipped
under the skin, the trompe
l’oeil plough and furrowed
field, the UNHCR feed bag and visiting
hours. These things done
for stateless donkeys,
mules, and hinnies – done in love, in lieu of claims
to purpose or rights –
are done with your
generous help. In your names. Enjoy the photo.
Have a safe winter
outside the enclosure
Copyright © 2011 Ken Babstock
