Note: It is crazy for people to get that close to wildlife. A moose will charge when it feels threatened, and the results can be fatal. Wild ones already feel threatened when they find themselves in places where humans live. We have to give them tons of room to retreat.
When the cold wind blows from the snowy peaks
across the harbour, and we pull our coats
around us, exchanging frigid smiles,
this is the time the bears, the cougars,
the wolves, are waking up hungry.
Sitting in their hot tub, my friends became aware
of glowing eyes, not two feet away. Cougar.
Two more walked up Lone Cone the other day,
after a stroll through town.
Cougar tracks in my back yard
one morning, hungry critters
on the prowl.
Cougar tracks in my back yard
one morning, hungry critters
on the prowl.
The wolves are wary, elusive,
on the fringes of our lives,
on the fringes of our lives,
tummies rumbling - less habitat, less food,
they find living harder these days, just as we do.
The bears must still be dozing. So far,
in the woods behind me, we haven't seen
our resident bear that last year thumped our garbage bins
in frustration, smelling salmon scraps inside.
Such a hungry world,with billions
of empty stomachs
and struggling creatures.
and struggling creatures.
This morning, a crow came close as I loaded
my groceries into the car. Hungry crow,
what can I offer you? I tossed him a soft dog treat,
and three other crows landed, squawking - I had to toss
one to each, to make it fair, before I drove away.
This is the season of the Hunger Moon,
and no one feels it like the wild ones,
who go in search of food and find themselves
bewildered, on city streets, in small towns
full of people, a gigantic elk, with huge antlers,
making his way across four lanes of traffic,
no other way to get to the other side.
Thankfully he made it across, drivers
deferring to his right of way.
The season of the Hunger Moon
returns every year, for millennia
all creatures waiting for the spring,
when Mother Earth feeds her earthlings
once again.
I take my message from the wild ones:
hold on.
Hold on.
hold on.
Hold on.
Where I live, by the ocean, the winters are very mild. We haven't had any snow this year (so far) and only a couple of storms. Some early blooms are popping up already. But the critters are as hungry as ever at the end of our very short winter. I am told the two cougar who wandered around town for a few days got away safely and SWAM to nearby islands. I didn't know cougar could swim!!
"Such a hungry world, with billions
ReplyDeleteof empty stomachs
and struggling creatures."
Put in the context of the world, we can add humans to these observations--also impacted by climate change. But this poem focuses on the wild ones, and you talk about them as if they are family. I walk with you, empathizing with them, and waiting for the warmth to bring food.
I mentally included the empty human stomachs when I wrote it. Smiles.
DeleteI've read that most animals have the instinct to swim; humans are in a very small minority. Most felines avoid swimming, but even ten-ounce kittens can swim if they have to.
ReplyDeletePK
Hunger moon...how bleak it sounds after reading about all those poor animals...happens here too, Sherry, but because of habitat encroachment, suddenly we have tigers and leopards wandering into cities - it's not their fault, where will they go if their homes are cut down for development??????
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