The Flock

By Daphne Osborne

Down the track comes the flock, a mass of woolly bodies & legs
Tumbling, Stumbling

Rushing past!
Keep up! Push on! Don’t get left behind.
“I want to see what’s in front”
“I want to be in front!”
Hurrying, Scurrying, stay on the path, go with the flow,
Some go slow, trailing at the back,
Breathless, restless, hard to keep going,
One goes in front of the other, “Can I stop now? Rest now?”
Young ones Skipping, Jumping, Race ahead, then stop dead!
“Where’s mum?  “I’m lost!”
Adventurous ones leave the throng, wonder away to look over there, where?
Something exciting to eat? to taste?
“What’s behind that stone?”
The Shepherd, ever watchful,
Guarding, Guiding
Prodding, Calling
“Come back here!”
Helping lame ones, encouraging slow ones, carrying lost ones
Laughing at the cheeky ones
Loving the difficult ones
On he strolls confidently
He knows the Path
He knows the Way
HE IS THE WAY!