Bears' Bones

Slowly, sadly, precisely

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Bears lie waiting
strewn over barren slopes
Charred bones creak
in this wilderness of ice
Black bones crack easiest
they say
Black bones will bring me
victory in the end

Black bones are here
where bears trod
icicles painfully scratching their toes
A grey wet bear
without a head
without a tail
has known its flesn ahd skin gone
Feet fishing in the distance
escaping in fours

Shivering remains
throw shadows on the ice
Black birds peck
the frozen bodies
Flowers fall
from their mouths
Thin leaves
from the white tree.

Dennis List