The Birth of Idiom

You're a German idiom
from the middle ages
when having a pig
was a prize for winning a joust,
a public sign of a prosperous life
a juicy, spit roasted meal to share.

Now, brassy, glossy,
a weight in my cupped hand,
you, squat pig,
given to me as a farewell gift
from a German friend
carrying the wish for luck
to strike me, too,
constant purse dweller.

Should I have a windfall,
win the lottery,
find on the footpath
a lost coin to pocket,
I'll think of you, squat pig,
and my German friend
and say out loud to myself
'Schwein gehabt!'
('I've had pig!')