The shepherd counted one by one as they entered through the door—
Ninety-nine sheep there were in all, but there should have been one more.
Alarmed, he shut the others in, then went out to seek the lost;
He’d search all night if he needed to, with no bridge left uncrossed.
That lamb was one in a hundred, true, but that lost lamb was one.
The shepherd knew his sheep by name, for he was the guardian.
Until he found his precious lamb, pressing forward he would run.
Shouldered, he carried him safely home and mended every sore,
Then called all his friends to celebrate, and spared not any cost,
For the one lost lamb was found at last—redeeming work was done!

Copyright © 2018 Angela Umphers Rueger – All Rights Reserved

Scansion:
Cinq Trois DecaLa Rhyme ~ 10-line rhymed poem (decastich) written in one stanza
Every line has 15 syllables
No particular meter
Rhyme scheme: aabbcccabc

Photo taken in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, 2007