Brief History of the Sulawesi Warty Pig

There it is, sketched in red-
ochre, head lifted and watching. 
Broad strokes of its rounded back
and short legs, found on a karst 
wall in Leang Tedongnge. Now 
it's the oldest-known animal 
cave painting. But why, 
as I read about it, does my brain 
think party pig? Perhaps it reminds 
me of Andy Warhol's Fiesta Pig: 
ballet-slipper-pink, nosing around 
in the excess of some post-bacchanalian 
frenzy. Migration in packs, in the wild,
through curtains of berries and matted
roots. They're mostly feral, but sometimes 
give in. When caught and semi-domesticated, 
penned next to banana groves. As far 
north as Mindanao and Palawan, they've
been found to interbreed with the common
pig. Six facial warts and a bristly 
snout; short ivory tusks. Singed 
and bled, the white understory of fat
renders itself before you plunge 
a bare arm in, then lift out 
garlanded organs dearest to the gods. 
Otherwise, why make a record? Why 
commemmorate what isn't an offering?
No one goes home without a portion.
 
 

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