The shepherd showed us the way
and called us to follow.
And we did.
But he walked faster than us,
or maybe it was that we dawdled
and looked around a bit,
or hesitated at the difficult bits,

So we fell back and he went ahead.
Once he was out of sight,
some thought he had gone one way
and some another.
Follow us, said the lead sheep.
So we did.

The grass was greener on one path,
so most of us followed that line.
It seemed the obvious route.
We thought those who went other ways
rather stupid, or even perverse, wicked.
Even so, instead of a single line
we split into several,
all heading the way that He had gone.
Well, roughly.

Some said that they could see the Shepherd
in the distance, on another path,
but it seemed silly, dangerous even,
to stray away from the flock.
As one of our leaders said,
“unity is of prime importance”.
So we will stick together,
keep our eyes on the sheep in front of us,
and not let our gaze wander.

After all, if we don't follow closely enough
we might be tempted to stray off too.
Get lost.

But I wish I could know where we are going.
I wish I could see the shepherd.
Is that him – across the ravine –
climbing into the mist,
alone?