THE PRODIGAL SON Poem by Miriam Van hee

first we heard voices, then we
saw it, two men trying to catch a sheep
on the other side of the valley
we wondered if anyone ever
came here, so far from the village

they managed to turn the unruly animal
on its back, they tied its legs together
and what seemed strangest was that it
didn't make a sound, one man stayed with it and the other
slowly drove a small van across the uneven grass
towards them, you could guess
what they were thinking, and their curses,
how the sheep would pay the price, and the violence

broke our day, for a long time we could still see
the car winding its way along the road, then
we walked on, in silence, a
radiant sky weighed on the land