The Beaten Bear
--
First we feared and beat the Bear,
put him out in the cold
behind a Great Wall
until the Bear was bitter and old.
When the wall came down we wanted his tricks,
how well he danced now he was rich!
We should be friends, we welcomed him in
(we like the smell of gold that he brings)
Eventually we spoil the Bear
Oh, the good times that we can all share -
forget the past, we’re moving on!
But the Bear does not forget the song,
he remembers what was lost.
So one day, as spring snow thaws
over yellow wheat fields
under a cool blue sky,
the Bear reminds us all.
Shocked, we are left asking why.
Sanction, starve, ignore the Bear!
But he’s out of the cage
and in our hair
with horror stories for cubs to learn
ways to understand the rage
while filling the sand with worms.
For every swipe, his cuts the pipe
to tighten the vice, take out the lights,
he invests in domestic
to replace the lost wage,
turns the kill machine
to a national sage.
Floats nuclear stations
domineers a new age:
energy is the book,
climate the pen and power the page.
This fight is an entrée of mice to the men
who denied the red dragons
of science and sense;
from plague, persecution
and fires we fled,
when scarcity rules,
The Act has been read
and we all have to dance
for the Bear in the end.
©️Anna Murzyn 21st March 2022
