Flock

by Jennifer Compton

one sheep hardly knows

how to eat

alone

the stance to eat

is step and step and step

shoulder to shoulder

the rub

the nudge

the glance

teeth athwart the feed

ravening

within earshot

a clicking, a gnashing

a bustling

a tribal stink rising

and a spooling out

and a looser knot

further, not far

(and a ewe

who has lost her lamb

casts about

mothering a thistle

or

a stone)

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