Lamb on a Ledge
Photo by Veronica White on Unsplash
A Poem by Alexis Ragan
First Published in Print by https://www.callapresspublishing.com
“Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep.” — Ezekiel 36:11
There is such a thing as lost ones.
An unkept farm that stood
at the edge of a forgotten sea
made real this plateau
when it became known as
the place wandering sheep go.
Until one dusk ushered in the lullaby of redemption.
A lamb, poor in sight,
broke away from
the hopeless herd and
took the blind path home.
Roaming deep into night,
bracing winds that bite,
wet pasture makes for
slippery hooves after eventide.
Flocks tend to float away when destinations are frayed.
She remembered this
facing the unstable rockface,
even saw herself plunging
into the fate-less waves.
Tossed against death hill,
feet frozen and cast down,
no way to hush the beat
of her wool-soft soul —
sliding, she inched off the cold cliff
into heartless end —
Until the babe, bleating, glanced up
to see the silhouette of a staff
and eyes that spoke of home —
Was this the owner she heard looks for the lost all along?
He took firm hold of the hoof with
his right hand and carried her
where the rest of the rescued flow.
Since then, the ranch,
whose reputation has been reversed
to one with redemptive tendencies,
can never cease to speak of when
The Shepherd saves
a lamb on a ledge.
