Australia (b. 1953)
The Pig
- Who would write of a pig
- and what would a pig know of Spirit?
- Who would think that the soul of a pig,
- as it leaves the pig’s body,
- would create the slightest disturbance in air?
- What would a pig know of agony?
- What would a pig know of death?
- The screaming of a pig
- that shreds the air above a village
- is no more than the sound
- a heavy metal table makes
- as it is dragged across stone.
- The motionlessness
- of a mother in a sow stall
- is no more than a pig at rest
- the groaning
- only the closing of a metal door
- far off inside her.
About the Poet:
David Gordon Brooks (b. 1953) is an Australian poet, novelist and essayist. He graduated from the Australian National University in 1974 and completed his Ph.D from the University of Toronto in 1981.
Brooks has taught at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Canberra, the University of Western Australia in Perth, is now an Associate Professor of English at the University of Sydney. There, he lectures in Australian literature, poetics and creative writing.
Two full-length collections Brooks’ poetry have been published, as well as three collections of short fiction and a novel, along with a collection of essays on literature and excess and a short work of ekphrasis on the paintings of Balthus. [DES-12/16]
Additional information:
- Brooks also co-edits Australia’s oldest literary journal, Southerly, with Elizabeth McMahon.