The man with the lamb in his arms on Wikipedia

written from a photo of a shepherd and dog on Wikipedia. Don't know the article...

In the hands of the captive lamb
the shepherd exhales and drops
his shoulders to the teeth of wolves.

Chained as ever since the manger
first gummed at its unholy meal
and the dogs slept that night

but now their chops are whetted
and his wallet is a feed satchel.
Power lines and street signs replace

the crook as apathy's avatar watches,
palms to the sky, and the mountains
mean nothing but barriers.

The sheep are left to the pavement
and the chains are not the dog's.

Alcuin of York -

One feels like he needs a copy of Who's Who to read this. The shepherd (presumably Christ) is in the hands of those He protects. I presume you mean the churches or some other follower who has betrayed Him. This works OK, but by S3 I'm totally confused. His wallet is a feed satchel? Whose wallet - the lamb's? the shepherd's?I hope I'm not too dense, but a lot of fine ideas seem interspersed with excessively enigmatic symbols. Hence, I have mixed feelings about this.

My favorite parts were the "power lines" part, though again, it's unclear what "crooks" of the original allusion (the manger scene) were replaced. Perhaps it would have been better to have alluded to the soldiers of Herod or of Rome. The final two lines are both good in themselves, and excellent to end on, lingering in our minds, and leaving us contemplative.

Alcuin

Michael Mission Harris -

Hahaha, not even close. read the whole page, man. There's a manger reference and a sheep's involved, that's about as much as ya got.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I...pherd%26Dog.jpg

Alcuin of York -

OK, let me just take the meaning as it's actually written. L1: Something is in the hands of the lamb. Yes, it's a captive lamb, but the meaning is clear. L2: Because ‘shepherd' immediately follows ‘lamb', it must be the thing in the lambs hands. L3: Unclear whether the ‘his' refers to the lamb's shoulders or the shepherd's. L4-5: I assume you mean the lamb gummed in the manger. This entire stanza is clear. The rest seems to be about victimization of the masses by authorities - governmental (street signs) and corporate (power lines). What throws this off (for me, anyway) is S1. Perhaps you meant to say that the lamb is in the shepherd's hands?

(Also, the link to the picture seems to be gone now.)

Alcuin

Michael Mission Harris -

Who depends upon who?

Look at the picture again.

Alcuin of York -

Mike,

Perhaps that's the problem, I clicked on the link the other day and just now. All I get is a "Can't find file" message. I'm sure the picture is a key to understanding the poem. I did some poems a while back on paintings, and posted the picture with the poem page. Otherwise, most of the poems would have been impossible for the reader to fully comprehend.

Alcuin

Michael Mission Harris -

Sorry dude, didn't realize it wasn't wasn't a good link. how's this?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi...pherd%26Dog.jpg

the title of the image is "Shepherd&dog.jpg," if that helps at all.

-Mike

Alcuin of York -
OK, now this makes sense, and I consider your point well-taken. However, it occurs to me that the alternative should not be an effort to avoid progress. The impact of modernism on traditional ways of life is a subject for a much larger discussion than is possible in a single poem.

The reversal of the logical order in the first 1-1/2 lines seemed off-putting and confusing, but after seeing the picture, I think it's clever. The tone is a bit stiff, and might be improved by rephrasing the whole into one or two sentences, such as: "...whetted, / his wallet a feed satchel / for power..." etc.

FYI, you can post the picture by clicking on the link at the top of the page. The only trick is that you have to put something into the "comment" area - a period or "X" will do - at least, it used to be necessary.

Thanks for taking the trouble to make the pict available.

Alcuin

Rene -
Yes, it does make sense once one goes and looks at the picture!
-----
Rene'

I am orbiting, I don't know where, but I am orbiting something!

Anstey -
This is a strong piece, and the inspiring picture is pretty fascinating. I'll definitely be back to read this a few times
-----

stephan

Mike Tousignant -

Oh no! I can't seem to fin the picture anywhere now...

Laura doom -

From Wiki log:

13:32, 15 November 2007 Krimpet (Talk | contribs) deleted "File:Shepherd&Dog.jpg" ‎ (CSD I8)

Did you keep a copy of the image? If so, can you post it?

If not, I'm not sure there's any incentive to comment on this, in light of the comments above.

Mike Tousignant -

unfortunately I didn't save it. and can't find it. Basically, there was a south american shepherd holding a lamb in his arms, looking at the camera, powerlines in the background, and in the far background there were mountains...the dog was standing next to him but I don't recall what kind.