The black bear
wakes in the spring,
stretches,
scratches,
moseys out
to see if she
can find
something to eat.......
Behind her,
down the slope,
tumble two
brown cubs,
trying their
new legs out,
sliding down hills
like happy children,
poking an investigative paw
into chill creek waters,
leaping back
in surprise
when the cold water
splashes their nose.
When their mother
hauls a fish
out of the creek,
they are confounded.
What the heck?
FOOD,
in the water
and on the ground?
Concept!
Soon, they tire.
They follow their mother
slowly back
uphill,
to the hollowed out
pocket of earth
in the root system
of an elderly,
sheltering tree
that is their home,
as long as humans
stay away
and let them live.
Question:
why would anybody
in their right mind
kill
one of these creatures?
I wish I had the answer to that one, Sherry. No matter how old I get or how broadminded I consider myself to be, I will never understand how anyone could take pleasure in killing innocent animals for sport... how could that possibly be considered fun?!
ReplyDeleteI have no earthly idea why, except that there are black market deals for the contents of one of the bear's organs, I think maybe the spleen? It's cruel, I know. And of course the reason for the killing? So some idiot man can feel "more potent" during sex. Harrumph. Amy
ReplyDeletehttp://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/mirror-grows-up/
It's my guess it makes the penis hard? Or seem larger? It's a guy thing, and maybe Sarah Palin knows? Perhaps we have to quit calling murder, sport? Thanks for the post. If only we could be as kind and gentle as the animal world around us....thank you for your wisdom! Man has an inflated idea of what it is to be "human." It ain't pretty.
ReplyDeleteI love this description of the young bears and their mother. I hope you got to witness this scene. Such little clowns the young of so many species. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteTo have these wonderful creatures so close must be a wonder indeed and I quite agree that encroaching onto their homes is very difficult to understand.
ReplyDeleteOne of the greatest attributes of poetry is that it makes us feel. Now, that is the most profound question. Worth pondering about.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the answer to that, Sherry. No one in my family has ever been a hunter!
ReplyDelete