the lamb's lame leg, its death sentence
the rest of the herd headed up the hill, dog
driven; the shepherd, home in his hovel
they wait, the vultures; they
know no haste, though hunger pulls
them closer to the babe
abandoned by its mother, and whatever
god watches over such beasts, its breathing slows,
the carrion eaters tighten their circle
the babe kicks its three good legs
in defiance or desperation--neither the buzzards
nor I know, even though, I created her
to be devoured soon in this new grass
while the other sheep chomp the sweet swards
close to the earth, oblivious to her fate
the circle grows smaller; the creature
kicks no longer; her eyes yet blink, slower, until
the first talon tears into the left or the right
the choice matters not