This sonnet is based on John 10:11 and Luke 15:3-7.

If it is helpful you may listen to me read the sonnet via the player below.

By mid-morning, my circumstance it seems
Has closed the door to joy, friendship, and rest
And locked out of love, my loneliness leaves
Me as a sheep lost, alone, dispossessed.

Without a shepherd or a sheepfold I
Am left the afternoon to wander this waste
Make due only with life under the sky
Live for myself, give no mercy, dis-graced.

Though evening comes, you leave all and seek
The one sheep who that morn wandered away;
Would you for me leave ninety-nine to keep
And carry me home before the end of the day?

Leading through the door, lying down in the breach,
Giving your life, I rest, breathe heavy, and sleep.

© Randall Edwards 2018.
This sonnet is for Christ’s church. If it is helpful, please feel free to copy or reprint in church bulletins, read aloud, or repost. I only ask that an attribution be cited to myself (Randall Edwards) and this blog (backwardmutters.com). Thanks.

Artwork: James Tissot [No restrictions or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons