Pig Warriors: Pickett, Harney, Douglas, Hornby
Pig War
This is the continuation of the serial poem of history in verse that began as A Time Before Slaughter. The Pig War was a confrontation between the U.S. and the British Empire over the boundary between the U.S. and British North America, before Canada existed, in what is now the San Juan Islands. A pig was the only casualty and this may be the only war the U.S. did not fight.
I envision the book being at least 80 pages. The intersection of regional history and poetry expands the potential audience beyond poetry fans. In addition to the Pig War conflict and the years of joint occupation of San Juan Island, other subjects to potentially be included are Cascadia (essentially the Columbia River watershed), Salish art, myths and origin stories
San Juan Island
and some Seattle historical events. A local publisher (Dark Coast Press, see letter) has expressed serious interest in the book which will continue where A Time Before Slaughter left off. That book was shortlisted for a Stranger Genius Award in Literature and garnered excellent reviews. I have been awarded two residencies to do research and write the poem, one at the Whiteley Center on San Juan Island (Jan 20-29, 2012) and one at Doe Bay Resort on Orcas Island.
My previous book went into some of the historical events in the history of Auburn, WA, where I lived from 1992 – 2009, when I moved to Columbia City. The notion of history in verse, or “Investigative Poetics” as Ed Sanders calls it, is central to my stance toward poem-making.
Composition began January, 2012, at the Whiteley Center retreat I was awarded. Two grants from SICA (the SUBUD International Cultural Association) made this first retreat possible and I am grateful to Latifah Taormina and Lorraine Tedrow for their support and to the Whiteley Center for the residency. Thanks also to Mike Vouri of the American Camp on San Juan Island for his assistance in tracking down source texts and clarifying Pig War details. In May I’ll embark on my Doe Bay writing residency, scheduled May 21-28, 2012. (A letter from Doe Bay is available.) Funds are needed for this second residency, for time to prepare the manuscript for publication and for public performances.
The theme of A Time Before Slaughter was the inherent conflict between control and its opposite, finding a way to live in partnership. The Pig War was one war the United States did not fight, a rarity in the history of our country. What are the reasons for this? Do they have anything to do with Cascadia, the region that had been proposed by Thomas Jefferson to be its own country? How do Salish myths and songs inform the dynamic? What lessons can be applied to our own situation at this time, of a dying empire that faces the task of liquidating itself (the British model) or having that liquidation forced upon its citizens? Is there something inherently different about the culture of Cascadia that leads to different outcomes than that of the U.S. as a whole? These are some of the questions that strike me as relevant at this time. My thanks to Mike Vouri, SICA, the Whiteley Center, Doe Bay and others helping my efforts in creating this serial poem extension of A Time Before Slaughter.
Poems which may be included so far:
Paul during Pig War residency on San Juan Island 1.23.12
Before Pigs
Death of an Indian (Birth of a Shaker)
How to Ensure a Happy Healthy Kid of Good Character
56. Shooting Starward
57. Frog Song
THE PICTURE
58. Coyote Guts
Here Pig
War Pigs
(above the collisional orogenies
& one wish, slip
59. Sisuitl (Si’sEyul)
William Selby Harney
60. Hymn to Indian Plum
