Sheep Amongst Wolves
Image by Katherene Quiteno.
The wolves are on the hunt. They are hungry and out for blood. In my veins flows the blood of not one, but two of their favorite prey. The fiery and passionate blood of my beautiful Mexican mother, and the rich and enduring blood of my distant Afghan father. When I was younger, out of fear, my mother told me not to tell people of my Afghan roots. She wants me to bury them where the wolves can’t find them. But instead I let them sprout, because I refuse to bury the one thing I inherited from my father along with him. I can’t blame my mother for her way of thinking, the world made her this way.
I’m not afraid of the wolves, and they should not be afraid of my people. But the leader of the pack would have you believe otherwise. With a delusional howl he has called for a hunt on both my parent’s people. He would have you cast away my mother’s people and brand my father’s. But I can’t blame the leader of the wolf pack for his way of thinking, the world made him this way.
The wolves follow the wolf pack leader. They prey on the sheep .They instill fear in their sheepish hearts. They feed off of their oppression. They devour their freedom. They wear sheep clothes to fool the naive shepherds. But you cannot blame the wolves for their way of thinking, the world made them this way.
The sheep, blindly follow the shepherds. The sheep peacefully graze on the grass. They flock together in unity. They are naive to the wolves hidden amongst them in plain sight. But you cannot blame the sheep for their way of thinking, the world made them this way.
The shepherds, put up fences to protect the sheep from wolves. They try and keep them safe but they are also blind to the wolves hidden in their fields. They do the best they can but sometimes the shepherds are unkind to the sheep. Only a foolish shepherd would judge a sheep by the color of it’s wool. When in fact, it is the quality of their wool that speak volumes of the sheep. But you cannot blame the shepherds for their way of thinking, the world made them this way.
In a world of wolves and sheep, we must strive to be sheepdogs. We must lead our sheep. We must corral our sheep. We must protect our sheep. We must bark for those that can only baa. We must bare our teeth to those that seek to harm us. But we must never bite, because then the dogs become wolves. Violence begets violence begets violence. The cycle of violence created by wolves must be broken. We must stand up for the sheep amongst wolves, that wear no disguises.
