“How are we doing?” asked Mother Bear
seemingly so concerned with what Rabbit thought
“I’m afraid we’re short,” replied Rabbit
“Speak for yourself!” said Mother Bear
as she stood up and stretched to her full 7′
shaking off her lapse of self-assuredness
like raindrops in the sunlight
“Oooh – Sparkly!” said Rabbit
forgetting the whole conversation
Baring my soul to Bear
witness of my dreams
lumbering past
bushels of fears and fancies
medicine teacher
gruffly grumbles and growls
beware the bear hug
just might crush you
smothered in love
or cast you correction
with the bat of a paw
In the light of the quarter moon
as stars snuggled
in the crisp velvet sky
yet again, I encountered
the big black dog
from across the way
Prickly pines leaned in to hear
what I would say
“Go home, Smokey” was all
the bear turned slowly
grunted and lumbered away
Left standing breathless
Bear blessing
Emerging from the cave
and the darkness rich
where visions are spawned
Momma bear gave a grunt
from deep inside
her growling tummy…
“What did I lose? Where did it go?”,
she asked the ethers
in a bearish way, sniffing
the air, the dead plant,
the frozen ground…
then lumbered back to dream
awhile longer
