Prayer of a Zebra Among Sheep

Lady
You've placed me,
A zebra,
Here, among sheep.
It's difficult not to be
Ill-tempered;
Not to kick and rear and bite...
Your knowledge
Of animal husbandry
Is so much greater
Than mine.
Help me.

Grant me courage
To cast off this woolly jumper.
To embrace these stripes
That set me apart.
Help me not
To close my brown eyes
Against the stares and glares
Of yellow eyes.
Give me strength
To wash off the white greasepaint;
To shake my black mane free.
Give me patience
When corralled and dipped;
When my whinny is silenced
And I am forced to bleat in chorus.
Grant me respite
From this mundane paddock.
Let me canter free
In the open savannahs of my mind.
Help me to embrace and love this equine, alien form.

Lady, it's hard to be different.