worrisome wooly blues

Terry Dawson

January 4, 2026

(Butt of Lewis, Scotland, Aug. 2025)

“don’t worry the sheep,”

shepherds scribe on signs

what could one ever do

that would cause more stress

than the blue streak sprayed

upon one’s wooly flank,

marking one’s design for dinner

not spinning into socks?

can there be more reason

to sing the Blues than this?

don’t worry my poor

blue spattered baa-ers

you’ll be the sheep

I count in my sleep

I’d not dream of disturbing

your calm demeanor

or worry the wool of your

sad, wicked destiny —

pure driven snow white

with stigmata of blue

agnus Dei qui tollis

pecatta mundi

only the Blues can worry

the thick sin of this world

miserere nobis

dona nobis pacem

grant us wooly mercy;

paint us with Bluesy peace

Terry Dawson is a retired Presbyterian minister and former adjunct faculty member at San Francisco Seminary. He recently relocated to Madison, Connecticut, but resided in Austin, Texas, for over two decades. While there, he produced the multicultural poetry, jazz, and live painting collaborative "Five Voizz Brush," wrote a guest column on faith for the Austin American-Statesman, and co-chaired the Jazz at St. James' committee of St. James' Episcopal Church. His poetry, essays, and fiction have appeared in many print and online journals over the past fifty years. He's authored two full-length collections of verse: the after: poems only a planet could love (Poets' Choice, 2022) and Pursuing the Ruin (Lamar University Literary Press, due out in 2026).