United States, (b. 1954)
Dream-Pig
- It was following me so I killed it,
- I felt kind of bad but it was following me
- so I cut off the head with scissors,
- the neck was thin and rubbery, easy to sever,
- it wasn’t a bad pig-more like a dog
- that hasn’t been trained,
- it’s not the dog’s fault.
- Maybe it was lost and needed my help
- but I didn’t like seeing it every time
- I turned around. Are you with me on this one?
- Don’t waste a thought on that pig.
- Never mind how it bled
- without making a sound, black welling up
- under the scissors. Did I say they were shears?
- Never mind the shears.
- This is an in my head, all right? Forget it.
- It could have been a boy, four, maybe five
- years old. It had that trusting look.
- • • •
- Though come to think of it
- there was something thievish
- in the corners of the eyes,
- They were pinking shears,
- with saw-toothed blades. I killed it
- so it would stop. What did I have
- that it could want? This was just a stupid dream
- about a pig. Stupid dream. Stupid pig.
About the Poet:
Kim Addonizio, United States, (b. 1954), is a poet and educator. She attended college in San Francisco, earning both her BA and MA from San Francisco State University, and has spent much of her adult life in the Bay Area. She currently teaches in the MFA program at Goddard College and lives in San Francisco.
Kim Addonizio is the author of seven poetry collections, two novels, two story collections, and two books on writing poetry: The Poet’s Companion (with Dorianne Laux) and Ordinary Genius. Her poetry collection Tell Me was a finalist for the National Book Award. She also has two word/music CDS: Swearing, Smoking, Drinking, & Kissing (with Susan Browne) and My Black Angel, the companion to My Black Angel: Blues Poems and Portraits, a collaboration with woodcut artist Charles D. Jones.
Addonizio has received numerous awards for her work, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, a Pushcart Prize, and the John Ciardi Lifetime Achievement Award. [DES-06/22]
Additional information:
- More on Kim Addonizio at: https://www.kimaddonizio.com/