Poetry Friday is hosted by Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone this week.
A bear recently paid a visit to the park across the street from my apartment building. This was the source of some considerable anxiety for many local residents. While the park is typically full of wild creatures like coyotes, squirrels, chipmunks and raccoons, bears are an entirely different matter. An entirely toothier matter, if you will.
In honour of this intrepid urban bear, I was inspired to pen a few words (while observing from a safe and very respectful distance – the above photo is both zoomed in and cropped).
Black bear, black bear.
Underneath a tree.
Black bear, black bear.
Don’t mind me.
Black bear, black bear.
Please enjoy your stay.
But don’t be insulted if….
I slowly back away!
Unfortunately, bears that find their way into our urban spaces often meet unfortunate ends in the interest of public safety, so if you live in or travel to places where bears might frequent, do be mindful of how you dispose of your garbage and recycling. The bears will thank you!
On a related note, my next picture book just so happens to have an adorable bear right on the cover!
BEAR HAS A BELLY comes this fall from Pajama Press. I swear the bear wasn’t part of a creative marketing ploy. Though it does help explain why I seem to write about animals so much – I live in a pretty wild place!
Jane, it has been a long time since you have been on Poetry Friday. It is great to hear from you. Congratulations on your new book. The cover is adorable and I imagine that the story is tool. It is such a good coincidence that your new book comes at the time that a bear happens to be out in the open munching while he is surrounded by cameras. The end of your story is wonderful and would be just what I would do.
I know, it’s been too long! I had a bad concussion a few months ago that left me quite out of sorts, but I feel like I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things! 🙂
Jane! It’s soooooooooo good to see you on Poetry Friday. Congrats on your next PB. Love ‘Black Bear.’ It’s fun. I was just in Colorado and learned that backing away slowly is a thing.
It’s sooooooooo lovely to be back! I’ve been recovering from a nasty knock to the head, but things are finally feeling better! We’re all taught bear safety here because we do have bears in our parks, but usually not here in the city! I wonder how well I’d actually do if I stumbled on a bear in the woods!
Jane! How nice to see you here again! Your bear poem is so cute and has the perfect ending. I was glad to read that you zoomed in and cropped this photo. I was concerned by the people spectating in the background and appreciate your warning about what so sadly often happens to bears in urban spaces. Congratulations on your upcoming publication!
It was quite frustrating actually, to see people seemingly lose their senses in search of the perfect photo – I was very, very far away, and happy to stay that way!
I’m ‘pawsitive’ Black Bear would appreciate your poem and your ‘beary’ poetic observations – from a safe distance!
And the cover of your new book looks ‘unbearably’ sweet. (I’ll stop with the bear puns now… 🙂 )
I was quite happy to enjoy him from a safe distance, ha ha! There was even a body of water between us – I wasn’t taking any chances. The problem is we have a lot of tourists and new residents who aren’t familiar with the kinds of animals we get here, and don’t always realize that bears aren’t nearly as cuddly as they might look in books!