The Ojai Post

I want to make my escape
But delicious scents surround me.
I smell fish and new aromas
Beyond anything I have ever tasted.

Powerful fragrances inflame my hunger.
Maybe the two-legged creature
Will allow me to follow my nose
For one small hour
Before I find my way home.

But wait -- there he is --
I have nearly stumbled into his cave.
And there is another, and one
With a short stick in his hand.

Nowhere to go but to climb.
Here is a strong, sturdy tree,
One equal to my weight.

In ten seconds I am forty feet high.
Maybe the two-legged creature
Cannot see me here.

I will wait here quietly
Until he goes back into his cave.
Then I will make my escape.

I am good at waiting.
I will wait longer than he can.
He is so quick and impatient.
I will wait in this tree
All night if I must.

But the two-legged creature
Remains down below.
I can hear him
I can smell him
My fear of him grows.

Why won't he go back in his cave?
I want to go home.

I have dozed off
And now light is filling the land
And many two-legged creatures
Are gathering down below.

I am afraid.
I want to go home.

The hot sun fills the sky.
More and more two-legged creatures
Gather down below.
I see them and smell them and I can sense
Their restless energy.

I am hungry.
I am afraid.
I want to go home.

At long last sweet night falls once again,
Black night, black like my body.
Maybe I will be safe now.

I am tired.
I am afraid.
I want to go home.

But now I can see the two-legged creature
Is holding a long stick.
He is pointing it at me.

The stick spits a vicious arrow
Deep into my leg,
Hot like a thousand bee stings.

I try to climb higher
But I am feeling weak.

The stick spits again and another
Wicked arrow pierces my back.

I am so tired now

I feel faint

I am falling

I am falling

I want to go home

************************************************

To the Bear in a Neighbor’s Tree, by Ojai poet Robert Peake
Written the morning after the bear was killed.
This piece came through me this morning, and I want to offer it up to our grieving community

To the Bear in a Neighbor’s Tree
By Robert Peake

How quickly we become accustomed to the light,
blinking through discomfort, standing upright,
when our claws break, we fashion tools, use
them, and then just as easily put them down.

We discover clumps of hair on the ground,
and see our lack of fur as a great improvement,
stamping and shivering, we like a cold wind!
When our night vision fades, we stumble a dance.

Now, we have lost you too, primeval cousin,
lost the instinct that might have guided us
in shooing you back where you came from.
We can no longer smell what is on the wind.

You sat all day in a tree, learning our gestures.
You waved at the crowds and considered making a speech.
When you became too much like us, we brought you down,
and hauled your massive blackness into the night.

The truth is that we lost you long ago, long before
our friends loaded up their guns. Look how far
we have come! Our fingers fit the triggers.
And still we remember not to look in an animal’s eyes.

I looked, and became frozen on my couch.
I blinked into the sunlight, and you were gone.
The black spot in the tree is no longer you.
It is the place that you have burned into my mind.

*******

Poems and other writings by Robert Peake can be viewed on his website:
http://www.robertpeake.com/archives/642-aliso-street-bear-poem.html

*****************

Our Dearest Bear
By mt2

our dearest bear
your tears did share

your love of life
the stars in the night
sparkling water so bright

all of this did, and more, give up
berries and brook, honey, dew, and buttercup

that we might see,
hear your desperate plea,
feel/reveal our two-legged insanity

our murder of your 'once' sacred Mother,
every living/breathing sister/brother

whose tears you did share ...

the tears we now share ..

********************************************

Bear
By Crow

You knew you were in a tight spot
Yet you remained present, focused;
Neither fearing nor hoping
Only Wise
Seeing Things As They Are
And Being One with All That Is

Blessed Be to You, Bear Spirit
O Wise One; Such Courage, Strength
Thank you for blessing us with your presence in our lives
Forgive us for we are ignorant
And do not understand certain things of great importance

May you forever enjoy happiness and
Freedom from suffering!

****************************

Related Stories and Videos

http://www.robertpeake.com/archives/613-the-bear.html

Aliso Bear Resource Page
http://www.ojaipost.com/ojai-bear.shtml

A video with Derrick Jensen: "Don´t Fear the Bears."
http://rememberthebear.ning.com/video/derrick-jensen-dont-fear-the