Last Sighting

"Second Bigfoot Shot Dead By Cops"
—Weekly World News, March 2, 2004

For thousands of years,
he was hidden
living only
in the blur of photos,
in muddy footprints,
in claw marks along trees,
in scarce sightings.

He now emerges
in full sight,
hairy and hideous,
gentle and quiet,
from the forest
into streets of noise,
of people running,
of cars crashing.

He meets with a force
to contain,
to capture,
to cut,
to study.

He resists.
He crashes downward, smiling
in a shower
of blood and bullets.

This is what he wants.
He could not go on without her.