Just Kibbe on Poets Cafe

The following interview of Just Kibbe by Lois P. Jones originally aired on KPFK Los Angeles (reproduced with permission). (Download MP3)

Biographical Information—Just Kibbe

Just Kibbe’s poetry, essays, short fiction, cartoons and visual art have been published internationally in a variety of mediums. He received his MFA from Saint Mary’s College of California, and currently teaches English & Composition classes for the Incarcerated Student Program at Feather River College in Quincy, California. Just was a founding board member of Indelible Ink: A Literary Performance Series. From 2005-2013, he was associate publisher and managing editor of THE Magazine in Pasadena, California. Just designed and produced a Baby Obama Doll (limited edition of 500), which uses toy and packaging to make an interactive poetic statement about Americans’ relationships to political media. The doll was purchased by the University of Texas at Tyler University for their Archives & Special Collections of Historic Political Memorabilia. In 2013, Just Kibbe received a grant from the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission to film the sign language translation of his Text Message Acronym Poems; the film Elite Speaking Turquoise Monkey premieres on June 10, 2014 at the Pasadena Playhouse.

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The Pirate Pig Speaks

The Pirate Pig speaks
in defiance on the chopping block
while addressing himself
to the man with blood in his beard.
The Pirate Pig says
the entire world of Can’t Complain Papa
fits in one of his missing testicles.
The Pirate Pig says
blood is quicker and hotter,
the creation of his parts
the bacon, the hams and porkchops
is the destruction of the Ego as a whole.
The Pirate Pig looks out
into the world with his one good eye
and is misquoted by the rooster
making commentary in the dirt.
“The Pirate Pig says
that life as a barrow
is a life without desire.”
The Pirate Pig laughs
with his whole body
and has no trouble distinguishing
himself from the roosters and the humans.