NEWBORN

“Every shepherd

Must feel the same” –

Thus Abel,

Watching the firstling of the flock,

As instinct, trial and error,

Guided to its mother’s udder.

Thus Rachel

As she saw the lamb

Suck the teat’s rich colostrum.

Thus Moses

As he felt the tight belly

Of a minutes-old satiated lamb.

Thus David,

As he heard the ewe murmuring

Her psalm of contentment.

Thus the Good Shepherd

As the man once blind asked avidly,

“Who is He, Lord,

That I may believe on Him?”

The quote at the start is from a present-day shepherd, about his joy in a newborn lamb feeding.