"Help! Wolf!"

The young shepherd cried

His body was shaking and his eyes were wide.

The townspeople came, swift and alert 

"Wolf? Where?! Are you hurt?!" 

 

A moment, he took, to respond to the panic.

With the focus on him, he suddenly grew scared

But he held his ground as he turned and declared

"There!" The shepherd pointed to his sheep

Close, it laid, quiet and asleep

 

The townspeople fell silent, their doubt gigantic.

Embarrassed, the shepherd grinned ear to ear

And forced out a laugh, his feelings unclear

Away, the people went, leaving disappointment behind

Alone, he was left, with the sheep mistaken for kind

 

"Help! Wolf!"

Again the shepherd cried

The people came in a hurry, weapons held high

Again he blamed the sheep for his outburst

And sweared and sweared that it wasn't rehearsed

 

The townspeople couldn't believe the antic.

They left in a hurry, filled with anger and contempt

Too quick to notice how his state was unkempt

The young shepherd laughed away till sunrise

And told himself he was only telling lies

 

And so the shepherd no longer cried

His body was stiff and his eyes had dried

Nobody came, not swift or alert

Nobody came, to see that he was hurt

By the wolf they all saw as a sheep

By the one who had made him weep.