Thursday, September 21, 2017

Brother Bear

Troy Moth photo

CBC video about this image here
The video is short, 1 minute long,
but haunting.


In the landfill,
the fires are burning,
flames flaring high.
The ground is smoldering,
as the food burns to char.

Brother Bear
is waiting
for the flames
to lessen,
so he can eat.


With decreased habitat, increasing scarcity of food, human encroachment, it is getting harder and harder for the wild creatures to live. The photographer saw this bear in a landfill in Ontario, waiting for the flames to die down, so he could eat the burning food. As he watched, the bear went down into the smoldering pit, looking for its dinner. This image haunts me. It is not just our home we have ruined; it is his, too. I remember a First Nations elder speaking of watching a mother bear and her two cubs walking across a clearcut, and how she cried, because it was so pitiful.



1 comment:

  1. A real fitting poem.We are distracted by global warming. Population might be our most pressing challenge.

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