On Leaving Jendouba

As Chris was driving me to Tunis for my flights to the U.S., we entered a traffic circle in Jendouba and there, in the middle of the circle, parked against a curb was a battered, little old pickup truck with a horse and two donkeys crammed together in its bed.  Unfortunately, my camera was packed; so I could not take a photo.  

For the next two days, I tried to imagine what their backstory might have been:

A horse and two donkeys

Came into town

In the back of a pickup truck

Wearing a frown

“I’m totally embarrassed,”

One donkey said,

The other one sighed,

“I’d rather be dead.”

“I should be out working;
Be pulling my cart
Not standing in a truck bed.
That guy has no heart!”

“I cannot believe

He abandoned us here

In the middle of traffic

And just disappeared.”

“Oh, quit your complaining,”
Said the horse to his mates.
“Be glad you’re not chickens
To be served on a plate.”

“I’m glad for this change
in our regular day;
Maybe our owner
Will just stay away."

“He was always so grumpy,
And grouchy and mean.
Maybe that’s why he left us
In this beat-up machine.”

“Sometimes when he rode me
He’d give me a whack.
So, I’m happy today
That he’s not on my back.”

The donkeys just nodded

They knew he was right

Their owner had sometimes

Left them harnessed all night.

And they didn’t like living

With buses and cars.

They longed for a farm life

And nights full of stars

But their owner had business

In the middle of town

And the donkeys pulled wagons

Stacked with goods all around

Or, if there was no work

They’d be tied to their cart

From the time the sun rose

Until it got dark.

They didn’t mind pulling.

They liked it, indeed.

They were tough. They were strong;

But they weren’t built for speed

They were small and compact

And they walked really slow

Cars and trucks would honk loudly

As they passed them to go.

The streets were so busy

they often couldn’t cross.

Which made some folks say

The day of the donkey cart was lost.

But where was their owner?

Had he just run away?

Had he gone for a tea break

Or was he having a bad day?

And then, in the distance,

They saw two men walking

One was their owner

And the two men were talking

They watched the men wait

For the traffic to break

And just as it did

They saw the men shake

There were smiles all around

 And some money changed hands

Shukran, “Thank you,” said their owner.

Afwan, “You’re welcome,” said the man.

From that very minute

Their lives changed forever

The new owner was a farmer

With wheat fields near a river.

When they left that old pickup

They wanted to sing

But a donkey-horse trio

Is not a good thing!

And that, as the late, great 
Paul Harvey would to say, 
"Is the rest of the story!"
So, have a good day.