aboriginal author

Tyson Yunkaporta

talks about pigs

released into the wild

how for the first few generations

they remain pink and pudgy

but in time they grow wild

grow coarse hair and tusks

their domestication fades

and soon they are what they were

for longer than what we

have turned them into

it doesn’t take long

in the scope of earth time

for them to grow wild again

Yunkaporta then wonders

what would happen to humans

were we loosed into the woods

how long would it take

for us to turn wild again

this is where his chapter ends

but this is where the poet enters

for I am here to tempt

that which domestication

keeps just beneath our skin

what would a wild human be

would we growl

and grow hair in places

where we do not have it now

would we walk barefoot

upon the dark dirt

would we swim in the rivers

look up at the stars every night

sleep in the meadow grass

and wake with birds

and with nothing to rush to

finding a breakfast

of berries beside us

sun warmed and sweet

between our unbrushed teeth

how long would it take

for us to get this wild

perhaps forever

or just an afternoon

with the right weather

and something in the air

which makes us want

to let go of what we have

and find everything else

Alexander Shalom Joseph is an award-winning poet, writer and playwright from Gilpin County, and is the author of seven published books. You can find his work and more information about him at  alexandershalomjoseph.com.