How to Wean a Hog
Bait her away
from the warm teat
with cereal
powdered milk
sugar
After that she will eat
your waste
Raise the animal
to trust you
and it won’t matter
what you bring her
She will scuttle to the fence
snorting steam
when she hears you beating
the slop bucket drum
when she doesn’t see you
coming with her human eyes
Rebecca Gayle Howell is the author of Render /An Apocalypse (CSU, 2013), which was selected by Nick Flynn for the Cleveland State University First Book Prize. She is also the translator of Amal al-Jubouri’s Hagar Before the Occupation/Hagar After the Occupation (Alice James Books, 2011). Among her awards are two fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center and a Pushcart Prize. Native to Kentucky, Howell is the Poetry Editor at Oxford American.