Out In Their Field

by John Mitchell 

The Shepherds tending

Their flocks at night

Saw it first:

The heavenly host, heralding.

Today, they’d be a viral sensation.

A few would leave their herds.

Start a podcast. Found a company

Of former shepherds. Knowledge gained

From the heavenly host would be their treasure.

“Leave the sheep for other men. We have been with angels!”

The herd was their lot in life.

And glory shone around them.

They hurried up and away from their field

And seeing God, swaddled, sleeping,

they spread the word.

The next night

They stood watch over the same herd,

But they were not the same.

Shepherds still, and better for it.

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John Mitchell lives with his wife and two children in South Dakota. His poetry is published or forthcoming in The Penwood Review, Clayjar Review, and Pace Journal.