Shepherd Who Nurtures Sheep
© Surazeus
2026 05 18

Because his heart begins to atrophy
at how his body writhes with bitter hope,
Thyrsis considers why sheep love to play
in meadow near the oven factory,
then plays heart-wrenching tune of futile love
that will never be heard on the radio.

If his sheep ever die out from disease,
Thyrsis decides he will never go work
in vast hall of the oven factory
where his father worked for thirty-eight years
till he died on his way to work one dawn,
stricken by the corona virus plague.

Aching to transcend sufferings of this world,
and experience sublime beauty of nature,
as recorded in ancient pastoral poems,
Thyrsis explains to Daniel on the phone
that his name is no longer Thomas Jones,
then sighs as he glares at jets in the clouds.

Strumming guitar while watching his sheep graze,
Thyrsis improvises song about Daphnis
who grows in love with graceful Xenea
till her mean older sister, Aphrodite,
aims gun at his head to drive him away,
so he jumps off the Tallahatchie Bridge.

Parking white Honda on the country road,
Chloe hobbles through meadow of tall weeds
to bring bags of hamburgers and root beer,
then grumbles how she wishes he would work
again teaching English at the high school,
then nestles in his arms when Thyrsis grins.

Instead of explaining to her again
how he wants to get in touch with the Earth,
and savor calm of timeless afternoons
as bees gather pollen to brew sweet honey,
Thyrsis hums enchanting tune he composed
while contemplating how all empires fall.

We build global economies of goods
based on extracting from soil of the Earth
precious minerals and nutritious crops,
so someone must operate farms and ranches
to sustain firm foundation of exchange,
or it will all collapse from weight of greed.

The shepherd who nurtures sheep in the field
still remains one of the oldest professions
that men have worked since dawn of history,
so I will carry on noble legacy
attended by the savior of mankind
though civilizations on Earth collapse.

surazeus.blogspot.com/2026/05/…

Orpheus photographs Thyrsis and Chloe as they pose in the field of sheep to advertise his sheep for sale on social media during Easter and Eid al-Adha.

#Poetry #Poem #Pastoral #Necropastoral #MetaModernism #Transrealism #NewSublimity #NewRomanticism #AmericanDream #Cinemism #Existentialism #Surrealism #NegativeCapability #NewGnosticism #MetaRealism #NewTranscendentalism #Astarism