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?
