J.P. White
Little Pig Crossing
—Road sign in Hana
After the evening closing of the Da Fish taco truck,
four piebald pigs who live in the orchid roots
scuttle the one road keen on more scraps.
The darkness gathers a stronger weave
without the reach of streetlights
and the night is what it has always been,
an empty sleeve for starlight spillway.
The avocados, bananas, coconuts, guava
And papaya are roadside free.
A machete left on the stump.
A wooden bowl for donations.
The pigs go there for desert.
Even though this scene could be gold leaf
On an onyx jar,
The earth would be better off without us.
J.P. White is the author of the poetry collections The Sleeper at the Party (Defined Providence Press, 2001), The Salt Hour (The University of Illinois Press, 2001), The Pomegranate Tree Speaks from the Dictator’s Garden (Holy Cow Press, 1988), and In Pursuit of Wings (Panache Books, 1978). His essays, articles, fiction, reviews, interviews and poetry have appeared in The Nation, The New Republic, The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Gettysburg Review, American Poetry Review, Sewanee Review, Shenandoah, Prairie Schooner, and many other journals and anthologies. He holds a BA from New College (1973), an MA from Colorado State University (1977), and an MFA from Vermont College (1990). He lives on Lake Minnetonka near Minneapolis.
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