GRIZZLY

 

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For thousands of years,
man lived with the natural world,
understanding if we care for the earth,
it will care for us.

Then we became too many
and too greedy.
We took too much.

Iconic grizzly of the north,
we are hearing about you
on the news: how many of you
are starving, swimming from
island to island in search of salmon
that are disappearing. Soon, they say,
you will be too weak to swim.

On our tv screens we watch
your slow demise, keep on
driving our trucks and SUV's,
keep on buying, buying, buying, 
keep on felling trees,
even as the world we knew
is dying.

We have destroyed your habitat,
leaving you exposed; in danger
when you find yourself
in our alien world,
lashing out in terror till
our bullets find you,
just because you were lost
and a human path you crossed.

Yesterday, one of you fought back:
a warning bite on a human thigh,
telling me you understand
your desperate plight
and that you know we are
the reason why.

In B.C. there have been a few unusual attacks on humans by grizzlies. The decreasing salmon stock means they are starving, and their hunger is drawing them out of remote areas in search of food. One man survived a bite on his thigh. He said the power of the bite told him the bear could have bitten his leg right off. It seems the bite was more in warning. However it is close to certain that the bear will be shot.