The Heavy Bear
Snores to shake bark off fir trees
Snorts and coughs to rub the silver off salmon backs
Growls to convince himself to honey grin
Lumbers and stalks getting kinks out or chasing skinks about
Covered with burrs, twigs, scars, raw sores
Without self-esteem, opinions or abstract desires
The lonely bear can’t recall what an erection is or why any bear would need one—
As a tan moth landing lightly on a pink clover flower
The heavy bear remembers.
E. Martin Pedersen, originally from San Francisco, has lived for over 40 years in eastern Sicily where he taught English at the local university. His poetry appeared most recently in Adirondack Review, Better Than Starbucks, Brief Wilderness, Danse Macabre, Thirteen Myna Birds. Martin is an alumnus of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. He has published two collections of haiku, Bitter Pills and Smart Pills, and a chapbook, Exile's Choice, just out from Kelsay Books. Martin blogs at: https://emartinpedersenwriter.blogspot.com