Schnieders, Christopher

Intelligent Pig

1. Went to El Centro with the men in my family
2. down by the Calexico border
3. and the mountains of Mexicali.
4.  
5. We woke before four AM,
6. ate cereal, fruit,
7. drank coffee and orange juice.
8. Hunters on opening day.
9.  
10. We found a pre-sunrise empty spot
11. that was our choice territory
12. and watched the light arrive.
13.  
14. Been hunting all my life
15. and never seen such a mass of birds
16. covering the morning sky.
17.  
18. It was beautiful,
19. a hunter’s dream
20. and ain’t that a bird’s nightmare.
21.  
22. I focused on a bead and pulled the trigger.
23. A dove fell to the earth on my right,
24. looked into my eyes and we knew the world,
25. fifteen feet of knowing, then dead.
26.  
27. See you in transition,
28. my fair feathered friend,
29. when I will be a Bird
30. and you that man with the shotgun.
31.  
32. I have killed and I am alive.
33. Watched life expire and I am alive.
34. Seen my sister go.
35. Seen my mother go.
36. Seen a dove go.
37.  
38. And I am your friend.
39. Troubled, damaged and happy as fuck.
40. Loving barbecued ribs so much
41. that I might as well shoot a pig.
42. Oh, intelligent pig
43. where do we go when we die?