a breaking of the pact

the tragedy of a too willful yearling bear

I am a "J" in Myers-Briggs,

driven by rules, by the clock,

not very "squishy" about what should be,

I love bears,

and I do appreciate the ambiguity

of the intersection of their lives and ours,

a yearling bear broke the pact

that I feel we follow,

it got aggressive and tried to get into our house,

he was after the waffles we were cooking,

just as several days before he was after a cooking burger,

it broke the rules,

so I called those who police such interactions,

now a trap is set for the hungry bear

with Krispy Kreme doughnuts

and a culvert cage to hold him,

he broke into the living room of a house

below us two days ago,

the same day he wanted waffles,

he is a beautiful bear, willful, too willful,

and, once he's caught

he will most likely be "put down," euthanized,

I mourn his impending loss,

and, god help me, I agree with the need for it,

(the next day)

the bear is caught,

my feelings, too, are trapped.

by Henry H. Walker

August 7-8, ‘23 

a yearling bear follows impulse

 

outside learned bear culture

even bears have culture to pass on:

in this valley for generations

bears have viewed humans as just annoyance,

not dangerous, not a source of food

just like the mosquito for us:

prevalent, annoying, not very important,

today a yearling bear followed impulse,

and not collected wisdom,

and assaulted out kitchen windows,

ripping off the screen wire,

for we were cooking waffles, 

and the hot fat excited him,

so he tried to get in,

he was not scared of me,

through the window or when I went outside

to drive him away,

I was minor and his hunger was major,

he was calm cool, and collected,

as long as he was about 50 feet away from me,

the rocks I threw at him more interesting than scary,

I fear we will have to report him to Tennessee Wildlife,

and the best-case scenario is relocation,

I fear his death is imminent,

for we humans cannot tolerate 

such aggression into our world, this yearling bear today

rode impulse into action,

hunger into assault.

Yearling bear several days before

by Henry H. Walker

August 5, ‘23

three eternities meet

 

yesterday, today, tomorrow

I often puzzle over being at the cusp of three eternities:

the present, the past, the future,

the past is increasingly with me,

as I've often said:

"The view out my rear-view mirror

has for more in it than what's out my front window."

I seek out the stories of the First Peoples,

how they dealt with the eternities 

before them, behind them, after them, all about them,

I wonder at those of European ancestry

who came upon this mountain world and made it theirs,

at least in their own minds

and in their heavy hands upon the land,

this week boxes and piles of paper and picture

have absorbed us into what they express of roads earlier taken,

many are the pages ready to be abandoned to recycling,

yet wonderful treasures also surface: 

glimpses of the effort, the richness, the summiting

of our family when they made the most of their moments,

we have worked hard these last weeks

to organize the Cabin on the Creek

so that books and photos can open doors for visitors,

for us the process of sorting, evaluating, 

culling, saving, just considering,

makes us even more appreciate 

how to be informed by what was

so that we can know more fully what is,

and open ourselves to how amazing

that what might be, might be.

by Henry H. Walker

August 4, ‘23

we summit today

 the high country in August

hiking within the high country of the Smokies

can have a magic

that can elevate the spirit

as surely as the body.

trails through the rain-invigorated spruce-fir forest

reveal more shades and universality of green

than we can hold easily in our hearts:

moss everywhere, lichens, profusions of flowers,

for it is August now,

high summer for the high lands,

the National Park Service has worked hard

to hep the trails resist the degrading of erosion

and fit the steps to what foot and leg can handle,

today the Appalachian trail was incredible:

a knife-edge of vertical strata,

of uplifted sedimentary boulders 

and igneous quartz intrusions,

views to right and left jump out at us

while valleys and peaks assert who they are,

not daunted by the higher slops where we are,

today is of summits: 

physical, botanical, experiential,

this day is of dreams and of light.

by Henry H. Walker

August 5, ‘23