Sacrificial Lamb

Sacrificial lamb


I am ...

your sacrificial lamb,
kept in place to protect you
from the arrows of injustice
that would be flung at thee
if it were not for me.

I am ...

picked on,
pecked at,
shat upon

and laughed at

... but not too seriously.

As long as I am here,
you are safe.
Were I to move on,
you would be exposed!
Were I to stand up,

you would be afraid ...
of my kindness,
of my hidden passion,

of my sharpened teeth.

Beware of what I am!
Your sacrificial lamb.


Kåre Enga © 2002


Based on an incident at work Oct 15, 2002. After a meeting everyone joked, some nervously, about how I had to keep working there so that they wouldn’t be the next target. I was their “sacrificial lamb”. I could’ve been upset. But I was relieved to know that: (1) I was not paranoid and that (2) everybody knew I was being treated unfairly. My co-workers were good people, but they’d never received training in diversity nor kindness. If they only knew how often and how deeply they had hurt me. But ... I had no voice where diversity wasn’t and still isn't celebrated, where most did not wish to know me, where I had few friends and where I chose to remain silent. Since then, I've found my voice.