The Bookish Bear Mountaineer Poem by Liilia Talts Morrison

Back in the days of books
When children sat in nooks
To learn of Mother Goose
And what was a caboose
Well, in those ancient days
There lived a bear quite crazed
Who’d sit and read for hours
While others picked wild flowers

His parents wanted him
To jog down to the gym
But that was of no use
He made a thin excuse
Until one fine Spring day
He read a fine essay
About a mountaineer
Who climbed up Mount Rainier

The next thing by surprise
The bear would early rise
To run a dozen miles
And climb up hills and piles
Until he grew quite strong
And took some books along
To scale the tallest peak
With his now fine physique

This was so long ago
But all bears know it’s so
That there’s a summit tall
Steep as a cold icefall
Where flags are stuck in snow
By those who won the show
Where that small bookish bear
Left booklets to be shared.