I was licking a pig underwater
in my sub-desk disco nap dream,
but not in a weird way.

It was a cute little baby pig,
it was vital that it be licked,
and I’m the nurturing sort.

What was less clear:
Why would an underwater pig
require further moistening?

But such are the mysteries of life. 

That was the last text I sent you
“I was licking a pig underwater,” 
eager to bandy all this about. 

But I’d missed the ferry.
By then, that cool vintage pistol you liked
had painted your genius
across the bedroom wall.  

And I’m sick to death of suicide,
starting every day with mourning…

I want to talk about that pig.               

SARAH AZZARA is a poet, songwriter, and visual artist whose work has been published in journals including The Southampton Review, The Whale, Long Limbs, The Din, The GW Review, American Literary, and Wooden Teeth. In 2011, she was selected for the Dramatist Guild of America’s Songwriter Salon showcase in Times Square. Her other awards and honors include The Academy of American Poets College Prize and the David Lloyd Kreeger prize in sculpture. She holds an MFA from Stony Brook University, an MA from The George Washington University, and is a full-time Lecturer in the Program of Writing and Rhetoric at Stony Brook University, where she also teaches for the School of Journalism and the Honors College. She resides in New York and cares for a small array of variously-sized mammals.