Bears

by Bill Lewis

For winter read: Death.

Spring brings a

resurrection of bears.

I drink their fierceness

in strong draughts

of ursine ale and carry

their meaning in my blood.

Tomorrow I'll wake

with a sore head but

tonight I will dig with

my paws for the medicinal

roots of stars buried

in the night sky.

Berserk, bright and upright

I range beneath the

northernmost heptad.