a most unusual winter day

when arctic trumpeter swans started wintering over they were our local harbingers of climate change
for Stuart Ross


I swung open my living room curtains
an ice floe was jammed against my old maple
a polar bear was lounging on it
slurping coffee I waded to the floe
nice morning the bear growled
can you please help me get this thing moving again
I grabbed my walking stick
and helped the bear shove off
I jumped on board having nothing better to do
and we floated down the Crowe

I'm kinda restless after the trip
any she bears around?
The only local shebears I knew were at
the  OPP station up highway 7 at Madoc
but I realized he meant she bares
Yeah, Spanky must have a playmate honey
or two at his playground at Callaghan's Rapids
(I figured bear dudes didn't say "chicks")
Lotsa great caves there
me and Doug were poking around them a month ago
and almost got eaten

the Crowe's current was flowing fast
and soon we were passing Sewage Bay
and well on our way to visiting Spanky

the black and white bears hit it off
so when they wandered away looking for honeys
I squeezed into an old condo nesting tree
respectful of the sleeping porkies in the bole
climbed up to a huge old owl's nest
in the crest and snoozed

a screeching awoke me just as I reached
for John Hamley's scrawny neck
Mike the CBC weatherman's scratchy voice
was announcing "it's another most unusual winter day"
I hit the snooze button
and fell back asleep




*thanks to good neighbour Barry for explaining about "shebears"   ;  )-