Larry SAWYER

---

Lieutenant Pig

grunted groaned groveled moaned

meandered and minced pirouetted

diced dug did nothing today though

Saturday of the pig suburban pig

holy pig pig at outdoor barbecue pig

pig eats pig prays to pig loves another pig

pigs hugging other pigs

other little pigs run around pig legs

pigs fly by overhead in sky

pigs are going to the beach pigs

are starring in movies movie pigs

pigs are certified public accountants

pigs are working on a national missile defense

system pigs are losing their outsourced jobs

pigs are watching reality television

about other crazy overworked underpaid pigs

as everywhere creeping silently

through midnight gardens

across darkened cricket chirping patios

through venetian blinds down

carpeted hallways into carports

into windows into bedrooms

suddenly awakened by the

smell of bacon

one sleeping pig nostril is




Like Constellations

you place several telephone books

in a vase and

 

I note the delicate relationship as an

adjective precedes the term it modifies

 

you balance precariously out the window

of a photograph by Rudy Burckhardt

 

I tell you a properly placed hyphen helps the reader

understand the intended meaning

 

you say you don't care about any of that

and each of your words is a small sharp-toothed animal

 

I tell you that sharp-toothed animal is hyphenated

for just that reason

 

you proceed to jump into another statement

which defies all logic thus reaching 

 

the exact relational center of the anxiety

disguised as love

 

we plant a flag there abandon all citations and

harvest grammatically incorrect sentences

 

and sell them to the locals who

despise us so gloriously we stay there forever

 

because this after all is

just my imagination




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