Matthews, Jen

The Pig Scramble

1. I ask her to tell my favorite story.
2. To tell me how she would catch
3. that pig.
4.  
5. Her dad said that cousin Paul
6. almost caught one
7. at the Addison County Fair.
8. Printing each letter with care, she slips her name into the slot.
9. Certain to be slyer, smarter,
10. she leans over the steel gate, and waits.
11.  
12. What were you wearing? I ask,
13. already interrupting
14. so I can place myself within her story.
15. I become the neighborhood girl, looking on,
16. swinging my curiosity like long braids.
17. I collect details until I can picture her stance
18. determined and lean. Last year’s Levis,
19. oil stains and holes from when they were Joel’s.
20. The three-quarter jersey, too tight, worn thin.
21. I can smell the onions, peppers, french fry shacks.
22. The manure, fresh and clean, she says
23. like fermented wheat.
24.  
25. Rehearsing her maneuvers,
26. she imagines the clang of a bell
27. and four young pigs dart into the pen,
28. a dozen kids, mostly farmers’ sons, close behind.
29. She would speed out, spectators cheering,
30. and slide knees first
31. toward that smooth pink swine,
32. grab its back legs as it squealed
33. like tires spinning in spring mud,
34. scrambling to her feet before the boys.
35. A respectable hero, she’d parade around the fair
36. with her prize,
37. bailing twine around the pig’s neck.
38. A Vermont rodeo.
39.  
40. She tells me her uncle won a dirtbike
41. on the 4th of July
42. because she said his name, Uncle Pete
43. UnclePeteUnclePeteUnclePete, until he won.
44. She begins repeating her name, fast
45. then slow
46. willing Mr. Morris to announce it
47. adding please God, please
48. even after
49. the last name is called.
50. I stop her again, this time to ask how,
51. exactly,
52.  
53. did she plan to keep that pig
54. from wriggling away? She laughs
55. and, before I persist, I am pinned
56. between her forearm and chest.
57.  
58. She says my breasts are softer
59. than the backside of April’s udder,
60. her child hood cow. Years ago
61. drinking fly-strained milk
62. straight from the jug,
63. reading Laura Ingalls Wilder,
64. rigging lawnmower motors to go-carts
65. gave her life meaning.
66. In a Buffalo suburb, I sat cross-legged
67. eating Kraft cheese slices
68. from cellophane wrappers,
69. watching Romper Room on TV,
70. waiting for my name to be called
71. through the Magic Mirror.
72.  
73. Voice dry, with the pride
74. of a ten-year old tomboy, she says
75. I would have caught that pig.
76. I kiss her forehead
77. and ask her to tell me her story
78. again.