In Every Sheepfold

Written By Gretchen Filart

A black sheep banished

By meek lambs for breaking free

Of a wooden fence

While they stand motionless,

Carotid arteries waiting to be severed,

Shank cut so clean

The flesh mistakes a gash

For a warm pat.

So young that they could not remember

It was the doting farmer

Holding the knife.  

Gretchen Filart is a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and essayist from the Philippines. Her works center on motherhood, love, healing, nature, and intersectionalities, two of which received distinction from Phoebe’s Spring Poetry Contest and Navigator’s Travel Writing Competition. Connect with her on Twitter, Instagram, and Bluesky via @gretchenfilart or her website, ourworldinwords.com. She’s usually friendly.

Gretchen Filart

Gretchen Filart is a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and essayist from the Philippines. Her works center on motherhood, love, healing, nature, and intersectionalities, two of which received distinction from Phoebe’s Spring Poetry Contest and Navigator’s Travel Writing Competition. Connect with her on Twitter, Instagram, and Bluesky via @gretchenfilart or her website, ourworldinwords.com. She’s usually friendly.

http://www.ourworldinwords.com
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