One day the shepherd
tended to his flock,
up in the highest mountain.
But away from all the others,
was a solitary sheep—
It was different from all the others.
It wouldn’t answer to the
shepherd’s call to return from the mountain.
‘It must see something I can’t see’
—mused the shepherd.
So he left his flock.
Happily grazing away on the sparse grass
in the foothills of the mountain,
oblivious to the shepherd’s departure.
He followed the path
the single solitary sheep
had taken over the mud and rocks.
Finally he reached the summit,
and the view was wonderous.
He briefly forgot he was a shepherd,
as he took in the views of the valley below.
The flock seemed so small/so distant.
Not once did he think about
why the other sheep didn’t follow him.
They seemed content to remain
below and he began to look
at the solitary one,
upon the mountain in a different light.
The night came across
the valley and the stars:
peeked down upon the two of them,
in splendid isolation of different.
by Robin McNamara © 2020
Robin McNamara Poet 