Shepherd

(Picture found here)

On clear cold nights when far stars speckle skies

& woodsmoke goes straight up & disappears

a dozen constellations to my eyes

are dull blurs when I think back through the years

to when the angel spoke to us that night

joined by the brilliant vast angelic choir

which overcame our senses with such light

& planted in each man the same desire

that prodded us till we reached Bethlehem

& led us to an unmarked cattle shed

We stumbled in and startled both of them

those parents by the baby’s manger bed

The townsfolk were astounded by our story

of uncouth shepherds blessed to see God’s glory

~D. S. Martin