flock - billy collins

flock

It has been calculated that
each copy of the Gutenburg Bible
required the skins of 300 sheep.

I can see them
squeezed into the holding pen
behind the stone building
where the printing press is housed.

All of them squirming around
to find a little room
and looking so much alike
it would be nearly impossible to count them.

And there is no telling which one of them
will carry the news
that the Lord is a Shepherd,
one of the few things
they already know.

- billy collins

Billy Collins was U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001 through 2003.
He's been the New York State Poet Laureate since January 2004.