Shadow Saddle 🌙🫏 The Donkey Whisperer

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe © 2026 Mark Damon Bitkower. Lyrics & written content are original and owned by the author. All rights reserved. No reproduction, redistribution, or use without prior written permission. 🐰🌙𝕵𝖆𝖈𝖐𝕽𝖆𝖇𝖇𝖎𝖙 𝕾𝖑𝖎𝖒𝖘🌙🐰 [Intro – Spoken / Close Mic] Jung said the scariest thing is accepting yourself completely— not the halo version, the whole animal. So I learned to ride with both hands— even after the left one tried to leave me. [Verse 1] Pacific Coast Highway humming like a wire in the fog, Malibu mornings—salt in the lungs, dust on the logs. I’m the donkey whisperer in a sun-bleached frame, I talk to hooves and heartbeats like they’re saying my name. Trauma walks in quiet, eyes fixed on the ground, I don’t rush the story—let the ranch do the sound. A donkey leans in, and the body exhales, Sometimes healing is small—like a gate that unjails. And I used to be light—always “I understand,” Always making excuses for the bruise on the hand. But the shadow kept knocking, like it lived in my street, Like Los Angeles raised it and put it in my seat. [Pre-Chorus] I’ve been good like a vow, I’ve been soft like a lie, I’ve been prayer in a room where the truth couldn’t survive. Now I hold both sides— and I don’t apologize. [Chorus] ’Cause I’m whole now— and that’s the dangerous part. Not evil, not cold— just a calibrated heart. I see your pattern before you speak, I read your hunger, I map your teeth. And if you come for my peace again, I don’t fight—I end what you thought would never end. I withdraw like the tide, no hate in my eyes— Malibu Donkeys, and the shadow rides. [Verse 2] Left arm tore like a flag in a hard wind night, Metal in the healing, lightning in the nerve-line bite. Thumb and forefinger buzz like a broken neon sign, Electric scripture—pain that teaches time. So I took the quiet months, learned the cost of breath, Watched my old self bargain with the fear of death. And when the world said “rest,” my mind said “write,” Eighteen-hour marathons—ink turning into light. But it wasn’t just injury— it was history coming due: I’d been surrounded by darkness since the first LA view. Smiles with knives in them, love with terms and fees, A city of mirrors that forgets what it sees. [Pre-Chorus] I don’t need a throne, I don’t need applause, I just need the truth with its uncompromising laws. And if you bend reality I bring it back—because [Chorus] I’m whole now— and that’s the dangerous part. Not evil, not cold— just a calibrated heart. I see your pattern before you speak, I read your hunger, I map your teeth. And if you come for my peace again, I don’t fight—I end what you thought would never end. I withdraw like the tide, no hate in my eyes— Malibu Donkeys, and the shadow rides. [Bridge – Therapy Room / Storm Rising] Sit down—no, breathe. Feel your feet. This isn’t punishment, it’s nervous system math. That tremor in your chest? That’s the body remembering the path. I’ve seen what people do when they’re starving for control. I’ve forgiven long enough to nearly lose my soul. So here’s the line—clean, bright, and cruelly kind: You don’t get access to me if you vandalize my mind. Thunder in the canyon, hoofbeats in the sand, A donkey’s warm forehead presses into my hand— And I hear it, like scripture, steady and true: “Your shadow is not your enemy. It’s your boundary… finally through.” [Final Chorus – Bigger / Choir Stack] I’m whole now— and that’s the dangerous part. Not evil, not cold— just a calibrated heart. I used to heal you at my own expense, now I heal myself with consequence. And if you come for my peace again, I don’t fight—I end what you thought would never end. I withdraw like the tide, no hate in my eyes— Malibu Donkeys… and the shadow rides. [Outro – Spoken / Calm Resolve] There’s a difference between darkness and depth. Mine is integrated. Mine is chosen. And on this ranch by the Pacific— I don’t destroy people. I just stop letting them destroy me.