The Atlantic | December 2002 | The Workout

Contents | December 2002

More on poetry from The Atlantic Monthly.

The Atlantic Monthly | December 2002

The Workout

by Roberta Spear

.....

Each autumn, in the time-honored tradition,
Helen breaks a switch from
the dusky heart of an olive tree
and trots her sows down
the furrows. It is trotting,
not lounging, that makes
prime porker poundage,
that stirs the blood and
flushes the blackbirds out
of the vineyards, that beats
the deep drum of the earth
with hard, pointed toes,
quickening the pulse.
And it is trotting
that renders the ladies lean
and marketable. A fly
warbles into the soft
flap of a sow's ear:

The mad pigs of Sarlat
ran amok at the fair,
drank all the wine, trampled
the poor auctioneer, tra-la...

But Helen slaps their rumps,
charging them up one row,
down another, until they are
winded and smiling.
The sun stands high
above, and their shadows
unfurl behind them
like crisp blue ribbons.

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Roberta Spear is the author of three collections of poetry, Silks (1980), Taking to Water (1985), and The Pilgrim Among Us (1991).