Sheep Groups of Eight

The race spat sheep in calm eights — eight and eight when soft eye worked.

Groups of eight, said Spike. Count the groups, then multiply with looking.

Suzy clapped: eight, sixteen, twenty-four. Three groups. Twenty-four sheep.

Not twenty-five because Woolworth looked special. Special still counts as one.

Biltong tried to join a sheep eight. Different species. Different queue.

Soft eye kept the groups true. Numbers without soft eye become shove maths.

Thinking Cap habit: group, then count groups. Cap does not invent sheep.

Little Thunder stood clear of the race like a sensible mahogany fence post.

Kids: twenty-four toys in three piles of eight. Skip-count by eights.

Muster maths can be a rhythm — then a latch.

Lead keeps the count and the kindness together.

Three groups of eight = twenty-four.

Three groups of eight = twenty-four.