"I used to dream of hunting down grizzly," he said,
"Or maybe black bear, or brown,
But now, I could never bring myself to shoot one."

In my heart I knew
The cherokee story of
How the black bear grew into being
From the cherokee people,
And is considered their close cousin.

The story of how some of their kin grew tired
Of living within the confines of the tribes,
Went out on their own,
And slowly but surely,
Den by den of anti-social men
Grew coarse fur, and grew hearty and stout
And evolved into what we now call bears.

I could see the sad eyes
On this grizzled man,
And I see him moving his clan
Further and further
Out and away from society,
And I have a feeling,
A new kind of bear evolution
Is underway.

-jenn