progress

i am a pig
rolling in mud
till even moisture’s fled
and dried cracked earth
fills every orifice
as i breathe soil thru hairy nostrils
deprived of any air

hollow
lunar plexus scraped bare
of all light

gothic
lost without its burgled ghouls and gargoyles

take these pig guts
to fill an ancient prescription (condoms)
for pleasure devoid of dis-ease
and equally unwanted offspring –
for a most modern minority
offall’s a delicacy:
“take clean sheep’s brains
braise with a peeled and finely chopped onion
add fresh chillies
season with salt and pepper to taste”

fill my plucked and charred chicken carcass
with lead mercury asbestos
i want to be obese with heavy metals
cellulite of quivering corrugated iron
screeching in the gale

then like the township shanty i am
unprotected in the midst of this fierce cape storm
sweep me off my illusive foundations
wash me clean blow me dry
and set me free
of the infinite spirals of
life love death life love death life love death (ad infinitum)

as species succumb to inexorable evolution
let me step aside for hardier rhinos, white elephant bulls
centaurs and firedragons
maybe

(7 june 2005)

- Bernedette Muthien