How blessed you are.
You sleep away the winter;
When the spring runoff cracks the ice,
You smash through chilly, rushing waters
To retrieve the choicest salmon.
When the sun warms your back,
You meticulously forage for blueberries
And delicately lick honey from your lethal paw.
Bear,
How blessed we are
To follow your shadow,
To hope for a glimpse of
Your solitude,
Your mystery,
Your freedom.
© Judith C Evans 2008
Submitted to Thursday Think Tank at Poets United prompt #52 -- animals
15 comments:
We can learn so much from the wild creatures around us. Your prayerful meditation is a familiar one to me. I saw my first real bear when I was about ten years old, driving down old logging roads with my father. We came around a bend and found a black bear cub sitting in the middle of the road, playing, trying to snatch the sunbeams that filtered through the leaves of surrounding trees. We sat in held breath awe, til the little guy noticed the idling vehicle, gave us a sour look for interrupting his serious business, and waddled off into the forest. Thank you for releasing that memory,
Elizabeth
A beautiful poem for a wonderful creature. The bear stands for many things to Native people, but the one I like the most is of the bear being a protector. Thank you for sharing!
You have described a bear's life so warmly, Judith. I agreee that a bear IS blessed to be able to sleep away the winter!
A lovely reverie about a special creature. I love it!
Nice tribute to the Bear. I sometimes wish that I could hybernate through the winter.
Wonderful writing about the wonderful bear!
*How blessed you are
To follow your shadow
To hope for a glimpse of
Your solitude
Your mystery
Your freedom.
Beautiful!
Margie :)
I love "...delicately lick honey from your lethal paw." Beautiful and haunting.
Thanks, friends! So glad you've stopped by and commented. Each comment means a lot to me.
This is lovely Judith - if only we had that freedom.
Anna :o]
Thanks so much, Anna!
This has been my favorite prompt ... and your words are certainly one reason why.
I liked this prompt, too. Animals are dear to my heart. :)
oh judith i just LOVE this, living with bears. blueberries! you've done a great and respectful job here describing and revering bears. love it! sigh.
i also came by to say this: As Poets United celebrates its first anniversary this week, we want to thank you for your support. Over the past year, we have grown to 250 members plus and are steadily growing. Poets United is proud to have you as one of our members and look forward to another successful year. Your imagination, creativity and willingness to share with us is what makes our community such a wonderful place. Thank you for beautiful poetry and thank you for being a part of Poets United.
Dear Judith,
Last fall The Good Husband and I spent a week in Yosemite National Park. One early morning hike brought us face-to-face with a bear on the other end of hibernation. He was foraging, eating, focused - no doubt preparing for the long, cold winter ahead. He was simultaneously frightening and majestic. What a wonderful experience we shared!
Marian, I'm so glad you liked the poem...and I'm so glad that Poets United is here, celebrating its anniversary!
Kim, that must have been an awesome experience at Yosemite. Thanks so much for your comment.
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