There is a little donkey
Who travels around the world
I don’t quite know his name
People lovingly call him Vendy
He appears at your door whenever you need him
Go close to him
Whisper in his ears
He’ll carry your whisper to its destination
In a sack laden on his back
It may take time or it may not
But he always delivers

Mother said I should stay away from him
Never wish it upon our doorstep
But something inside me had a yearning
The yearning was intense
I did beckon him to our doorstep
Once
Maybe twice
Maybe a lot many times
I like him
He brings a lot of joy

It’s crippling, it’s suffocating
It’s not a fever
I look fine on the outside
Nobody can tell if something’s off
But something is off
Sometimes it feels that everything is off
Everything is a trap
Everyone is against me
Mocking me, tricking me, ridiculing me
They want to harass me because I am different
Because I am not like them
I am inferior, or made to feel so
I am happy with myself but that isn’t enough
I am expected to be a rat
Smell and find cheese, and bring it back to the lair
Cheese doesn’t excite me
I cannot even smell that well
I cannot be a rat
I am happy being a worm
Crawling slowly towards my destiny
Edging closer and closer to my goals
I can be crushed easily
Or I can wriggle my way out of trouble
I guess all worms feel that way in a rat’s world
It’s not fever though
I cannot take a sick leave for this

He dreamed more than he should have dreamt
He lived in a world of his own
He never knew the aches of loneliness
Though he lived and died alone