Negotiations; harsh and loud
At first, then softer as the crowd
Disperses in the noonday sun
Disburdened, hands are lightly run
Down bony withers; lesions ooze.
Thirst slaked, he shakes his scabby head
Drips water on his saviour's shoes.
A chicken scuttles as he’s led
Across the dusty village square
To comfort and a clean straw bed
And just before he’s loaded on
The two of them are standing there
Together, bowed, relieved
Work done