Psychic Vs Physical Distance

an aggressive bear

I love bears,

I love to watch them, to know them,

from a distance,

not a physical distance but a psychic distance, 

if I’m close to them in body,

but they deny I am there,

and continue to be themselves,

I am happy, and observant, and appreciative,

when they really notice me,

and define me as trouble, a threat,

I am alive to how tenuous

the two of us as a couple really is,

a few days ago a hungry bear checked out the Cabin,

he did not like me nearby, making noise,

seeing him, taking his picture,

maybe challenging his next meal,

he looked toward me, with intent,

and bluff-charged me, twice,

I harrumphed back at him, twice,

but he knew I was just noise,

and I knew his claws were scary,

his strength nothing to be trifled with,

he climbed up a tree outside our screened porch,

and sniffed with interest, with purpose and intent,

hopeful of finding food,

just a few feet away from our tables,

I felt his power,

and it scared me,

two days later, after I had left,

that bear smelled the potential food

in our “bear-proof” garbage container,

pulled it out of the ground,

and moved it twenty feet

in hopes of cracking the nut for its meat,

the garbage was safe, not the cage, though,

this bear cannot be allowed 

to treat the human world as prey,

for after wrecking our containers, garbage cans, and cars,

the step to people has become too short to allow.

by Henry H. Walker
May 27, ‘18