A Bears Guide Poem by Michael Pruchnicki

A Bears Guide



Every time I glance up at the framed
lithograph hanging on my den wall
of a bear sitting at its ease browsing
through the pages of A Bears Guide
I imagine a band of brother bears
traveling to a camp on the Yellowstone
for a summertime confabulation
on the century's greatest writers!

Of course Steinbeck rates four stars
followed by Faulkner and Jack London
(Yoknapatawpha and frigid Alaska)
home territory to shaggy mammals
and their fictional canine companions
wandering the vast wildernesses
of the bears' imagination.

When it came to the merits of such
as Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald,
bear fans of each disagreed, growled
and tore up the trees, rolling boulders
down the hills into the Yellowstone;
but the subject of James Joyce
and his stream of consciousness
had bears leaving piles of scat
in quiet mountain meadows
defiling the landscape with
ursine opinion of a literary
Irishman and his books!

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Michael Gale 28 March 2008

This poem is great and unchildish. God bless all poets and readers alike-MJG.

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Smoky Hoss 03 August 2011

Excellent imagination blended with great humor!

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Wojja Fink 20 June 2009

that is one wonderfuly brilliant smiler of a poem and a joy to read..cheers..John.

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Ben Toh La Wok 24 July 2008

Wow, you're amazing...yeah, bears....excellent......great write buddy!

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O Anna Niemus 07 June 2008

Unfortunately many states in the US allow bear murder by hunters.. as do provinces of Canada and in China they are caged.. like Hansel and Gretel.. to provide spare parts Abe Lincoln wrote a poem about a bear hunt... but as a politician he did not stand up for the bear

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Marilyn Lott 06 April 2008

A fun poem, Mike. I don't think any wild creature would want Hemmingway around as he was quite the hunter. I love to visit Yellowstone and have done it many times. The Buffalo is my favorite and love writing poems about this great beast. I enjoyed your poem. Best Wishes, Marilyn

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