venue: ark
present: piglets 1-5

points agreed and passed

- at least one member must run in random circles every few minutes, inciting all other members to do likewise

- where two members are sleeping adjacently, all other committee members must practice 'pile on' without delay



- pretend eating of vegetables is to be encouraged

the piglets are a week old now

born



and once cleared of nasal mucus, they quickly suckle



for a few days its feed sleep feed sleep



and dodge being sat on by the mother...one failed, squashed dead, eaten overnight by the mother to keep the ark clean

growing quickly over the week, their individuality is apparent almost immediately



one or two more confident, more inquisitive than the others



after six days one or two clamber over the lip of the ark and out, followed by the others...following the mother, copying everything

today



the first one tiny and dead

the second one tiny and dead

a friend and i worry that this might be it, or worse, more of the same to come

then three and four together, bigger, moving

like listening to an old smoker hacking you clear you own throat involuntarily while you clear their nose and mouth of birth mucus

then five

then six a minute later

'five' has stopped moving, i hold it upside down, perhaps id been to quick to return it to the mother, some mucus still obstructing...slowly breathing, the friend is equally worried, its not just me and memories of lamb death ...fifteen minutes of clearing, washing and cajolling ends in sluggish movement, but its alive

a few drops from a syringe of powdered milk to try and start up the suckling reflex

thirty minutes later and its nibbling at a teat



its hard not to speak in cliches while it happens, never mind avoid writing in them, but its IS somehow miraculous and timeless, and marvellous in the way that accompanies only things in which we are irrelevant

and now its all over i want it to happen over again, for the strangely addictive miracle to keep coming, for more to emerge

.

today
all my ideas feel dim
i dont want to plan and i dont want to do
all the ideas for writing seem lazy and turgid
im not interested
itd be nice to stop it all and spend my time and money on something else