The Donkey and the Zebra

Lyrics:

© Shamika
Said the donkey to the zebra when they met along the way
"You're a rare, unusual creature, to be sure. You're not black and you're not white, like a horse but then not quite, why, I've never seen such elegance before"

"Why thank you" said the zebra, "it's most kind of you to say, I am rare and I'm distinctive, this is true. But the problem is, you see, I don't know the real me, I wish I was more 'workaday' like you"

Said the donkey to the zebra as they chatted in the Sun
"I am ugly, brown and boring, such a drag. People shackle me in chains, say I'm stupid, call me names, load me down with every pot and sack and bag"

(Zebra) "But donkey, you are needed, there's a point to who you are, you're a loyal and strong example of your race. You have kind and honest eyes, it should come as no surprise that, given half a chance, I'd take your place. For I am just a freak, and even as we speak I feel the World is staring at my skin. I'm exactly like my Mother, my Sister, Dad and Brother, we wear our stripes like badges for our sin. I wish I was a donkey not a zebra, I want to be more normal, don't you know. I'd eat carrots as a snack, carry children on my back, I'd be in demand wherever I would go"

The donkey didn't understand the zebra's point of view, he pricked his ears and shook his heavy head.
"Don't you realise how much I'd rather be like you instead" and he said... I wish I was a zebra, not a donkey, I want to have more poise and style and grace. Don't mean to sound unkind but you really must be blind if you can't see the beauty in your face"

The zebra and the donkey talked for hours of their plight and soon they felt a bond and lay together.
Then... later in the year a baby did appear, a perfect union of their joint endeavour.