(Tyler Horton)

I’ve taken this form with reluctance
But a plain breach of trust has occurred
Perhaps I could move past the issue
But I write on behalf of the herd

I suppose we’ve not got it so badly
With our lot we are nobly content
But since the event of last weekend
Our patient endurance is spent

Their excuse is ‘divine interference’
Pardon me while I stifle a groan
I think any God worth the name would
See that we’d much rather be left alone

Under the stars we were huddled
As nights immemorial were spent
But our sense of security was shattered
As the skies all around us were rent

A light pierced the comfortable darkness
And I must say I’m of the persuasion
That although the fools thought it was music
It was something more like an invasion

But what anyone could have against us
I’ll admit is far beyond me
We graze and we mind our own business
Upholding our tame pedigree

When the night had finally settled
And the air sealed back up with a crack
Our shock grew into a panic
When our shepherds took off down the track

Now a shepherd, by any definition
Is one who looks out for us sheep
And though I recoil from such leeway
It’s possible to do in one’s sleep

A man present, yet dozing, can be woken
A man conscious, yet missing, cannot
So a shepherd in absentia is useless
And the sheep, left alone, are forgot

This granted, I’m sure you’ll agree to
The justice and worth of our claim
That those who ran off and left us
Are ‘shepherds’ only in name

Left out in the open. Abandoned.
Alone. Afraid in the cold
No rod and no staff amongst us
Just our wool and a need to be bold

The shepherds are back now and working
(Of course, one of them gave me this form)
But our position is awfully unstable
Will desertion now be the new norm? 

I’m simply not in a position
To allow these shepherds their plea
That we stand at the turn of the ages
For its really quite plain to me

That if the Grass-Giver was working
(Forgive me if I come across stark)
I’m sure he would give more attention
To those left alone in the dark

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