A pig in a barnyard sees birds flying south and reads it as an omen. His first instinct is to wish for a shotgun, which tells us he feels threatened and wants to strike back. But the birds are everywhere, flying in every direction, and the pig quickly becomes overwhelmed. His groan, "Ugh," leads into a jumble of bad signs: ladders, black cats, strange smells, dreams, black wings and tusks. Superstition seems to be crowding his mind, and the images of wings and tusks run together, as if the birds and the pig are linked.
Then the speaking voice shifts into a kind of plea or question: when will the birds come down? The answer is blunt and unsettling. They will, from everywhere. The last line shows a nest built in the dead pig's nostrils. The mood is anxious, darkly funny, and eerie. The poem suggests that fear of omens can't stop what's coming, and the ending turns the pig's dread into a grim, strangely quiet image.