Someone to Watch Over Me

The proud male goat standing in the corner. The one with the magnificent silver beard that was to earn him his name. And if this proud beast did hold an ounce of fear, he hid it well. But then that is exactly what exemplary leaders do.

So desperate she was for someone to watch over her, the frightened kid ducked beneath her newfound protector’s shielding front legs. It is, we have since found, a place to which she often retreats when she seeks solace in this world. A place where her heart races no more, and her body ceases to shake.

And as one huddled and the other held vigil in that unfamiliar paddock, they were united by form and, too, dire circumstance. With their troubles far from over, Margot and Merlin, at the very least, had something so precious. Something they each so desperately needed.

They had each other.

Margot could not have found wiser and more-loving counsel than Merlin’s actions ever since have laid bare. And Merlin could not have found a gentler and sweeter recipient for his paternal affections.

But for how long?

Both rangeland goats were found within a stone’s throw of an abattoir that daily takes the lives and hopes of their kind and mercilessly reduces them to faceless commodities, and they were far from out of the woods. But thankfully it was not the slaughterman who came calling for them, but kindness.

And although now safely ensconced in sanctuary, the two goats remain unconvinced of this as we accept it is going to take time for us to atone for the past wrongs afforded these innocent beings.

And whilst we daily keep a listening and heartfelt watch over them, from a distance of their command, what humbles us most is the incredible bond of companionship that melds one to the other. Haunting indeed is the reminder that regardless of form, the one thing we all need most in this world is someone to watch over us.