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Hog Killing

from John Depew by John Depew

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about

based on Wendell Berry's poem 'For the Hog Killing'

lyrics

A bullet to the head, and a knife to the throat
Not one, but both, to do the job right
We’ve pinched and skimped, cussed and cried
To keep the feed bins full and the mortgage paid
But God, how I love these frozen nights
Step through the barn, hold the lantern high
Our breath all melding crystalline
All life exhales in silence

Let them all stand still for the bullet, let them die with the sound of the shot in the air
Let them each lock eyes with the shooter in the moment before the shot rings
Let the jugular blood spring hot to the knife, as hogs turn to people
By our hunger, by the blood on our hands, we persist a little longer

We walk alone over grazed out milo stubble fields
Thinking about the payments due in the coming year
The cattle bunched up to the south of the cedar trees
Not far from dried up well and the water tank
We walk the same path right down to the dust
Feet and hooves alike trace the same tracks
Throw my bones in the gully where the sheeps’ and the hogs’ bleach white
When my time comes

Let the stroke or the heart attack drop me, let me die on my way to the ground
Let me go on a tender word that my wife and my kids might remember
Let me leave some advice for my grandkids: “Stay home and fry yourself a sandwich”
By our hunger, our bond is renewed, and we persist a little longer

credits

from John Depew, released February 16, 2021
John Depew-mandolin, vocal

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John Depew Kansas

bluegrass-adjacent songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. frier of chicken, salad eater, coffee drinker.

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