Jacob: Sheep
Elliott batTzedek

I hate sheep.
I hate white sheep,
I hate black sheep,
I hate brown sheep
and more than all of these
I hate spotted sheep.

And even more than I hate sheep
I hate running after rutting sheep,
trying to get the offspring I want,
trying to match sheep that breed spotted
to sheep that breed spotted,
trying to track sheep who’ve had twins.

I hate running after rutting sheep
for any sheep at any moment
might plunge off a cliff
or stroll into a lion’s mouth
and even more rutting sheep
will be their own death and mine.

I only want to take my wife
and my children
back to my home,
and so I run after rutting sheep
because controlling their coupling
will breed what I need.

As my father-in-law knew
when he switched one ewe
for another, knowing a ram in rut
would never notice.