United States, (b. 1971)
THE PIGS
- And after Jesus fled upon his boat,
- the poor whose lives depended on the swine
- ran down into the sea, to save the herd
- that Legion, laughing, drove into the waves.
- There they found the pigs upon the water,
- not drowned or drowning or even in distress,
- but swimming gaily, snapping after fish.
- And seeing this, the men were full of wonder.
- And seeing them, the swine were full of mirth…
- they were many, the men were thin and few.
- Enough!, the largest pig hissed to his fellows.
- And to the men, he cooed, You don’t need ropes!
- We only had to rinse that Legion out.
- Now that we’re clean, we’ll come back up the hill.
- The men were tricked, and led them to the village
- where Legion gulped their wine and pissed their beds,
- two thousand strong and ready to ascend.
- The men were whipped and made to till the fields …
- their wives, enslaved… their children taught to squeal.
- And after all this time, the swine still rule.
- We do things their way, and listen as they snort
- about the great things Jesus can do for you.
© Philip Memmer. Lucifer: A Hagiography. Sandpoint, Idaho: Lost Horse Press (2009).
About the Poet:
Philip Memmer, United States, (b. 1971), a poet, editor and educator. He is the author of five books of poems, most recently Pantheon (Lost Horse Press 2019). His work has appeared in such journals as Poetry, Poetry Northwest, and Poetry London, in many anthologies, and in the Library of Congress’s “Poetry 180” project.
Memmer is the director of the Arts Branch of the YMCA of Greater Syracuse, where he founded the Downtown Writer’s Center in 2001. He is also associate editor for Tiger Bark Press, and editor of Stone Canoe. [DES-12/21]
Additional information:
- Philip Memmer at http://www.philipmemmer.com/
- Memmler’s page at his publisher, Lost Horse Press
From the Porkopolis Archive:
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow tells us of the divine tragedy of “The Demoniac of Gadara.”
- Richard Wilbur, in “Matthew VIII, 28 ff.” – the Gadarenes tell Christ to shove off.
- The Flemish painter and engraver, Jan van Orley, imagines the scene as the demons enter the swine.
- Briton Rivière paints another view of The Miracle of the Gaderene Swine
- Master of the Alexander Romance illuminates “Christ heals a possessed man at Gerasa”