The Bear's Lair

five toes meant one thing.
he was near.
I followed his tracks.
passed a dead buck
probably taken down days before
by a lone hunter.
I secured my handgun and my rifle.

I must get the jump on him.
I tip-toed creekside.
then, suddenly, on the other bank,
I heard an air-shaking growl.
he was as big as mountain sky.

he had violence in his heart
and me in his eyes.
his jaw opened wide, his body
full of wanton hunger.
I grimaced.  he'd be a trophy,
his head standing proudly
nailed to the wall,
that is, if I could take him.
he rose on his hind legs.
I felt dread.  swallowed twice.
cocked my gun.
he's not taking me to the slaughterhouse.

but he was fast. me clumsy.
he crossed back.
his big teeth like bronze sculpture.
I hung like a toy.
I thought this is it. my last act.
the headlines will read
eaten by a bear.

but no, the ordeal continued.
he dragged me
through the gurgling stream
into bushes and across beds of rocks.
bruised me bad.

when we reached the beast's den,
I feared I'd be dinner. I saw mama bear
and her growing cubs.
they motioned back and forth
with their paws.
I understood. they said
I'd make a great rug.

Wahkeena Falls
(Beautiful Woman in Yakima Native Language)

she's bright, white and sassy,
as she hops rocks and dives
beneath downed trees.
crowds congregate.
lounge in her gypsy soft air.
watch her splash,
wedge her soul into a bowl
then crawl down a long slope
and out to sea.

always she fills you with comfort.
her wide swath makes for moist earth
along her sides.
sit a while and her bubbly music
becomes a sweet sensation.
before humans trudged these hillsides,
she stood,
crackled down and bathed these rocks.
I laugh. pause.
play in her centuries old rocks.
oozing out are my city blues,
my congestion, my gnarls.
she brings me back to life.
upon leaving, I always thank her.

in winter her lone body
rips out a rhapsodic roar.
spurious wind gusts bend
and twist her long lanky body.
she crashes, hisses and howls
yet her droplets touch your face
like soft winter kisses.
I come each week
with the satisfaction of knowing
she is never somewhere else.