Sestina for the Brown Bears
By Elizabeth Cuadra
In the empire of the brown bears
they embody nature’s power.
They come fishing in these waters,
make the local black bears run.
What will happen when the humans
try to share the brown bears’ trail?
Let’s watch beside this sandy trail.
We’ll soon see what kind of wild bear
tries to stand upright like humans,
drawn by the falling water’s power
feeds long upon the salmon run,
slurps up the icy glacier waters.
By the lake’s iceberg-filled waters
along a southward-sinking trail
toward the solstice, days now run.
Dark days, long nights too hard to bear.
The autumn sun’s fast-waning power:
dark and dim for many humans.
Caution signs ignored by humans
placed by rangers near lake waters
warn of brown bears’ fearsome power,
warn us not to use that trail.
This photo-op made just for bear
fails to convince our luck has run.
Charged by Mom bear, see us run!
Reminded we are merely humans
and this trail belongs to brown bear,
panicked so, we loose our waters,
scamper flat-out down the trail
breathless from this show of power.
Evolution wields its power:
While centuries and eons run,
our lives and bears’ run that same trail.
Nature’s rules also bind humans
in this land of icy waters,
in the empire of the brown bear.
This trail does not belong to humans.
Hike or run by other waters!
We are in the power of brown bear.
