Traveling Bears
The little black bears have tumbled over
the border from Tennessee, back to the woods
of Kentucky, like lost cats trotting after
owners, who moved away months before.
Their rubbery noses pointed upward
to the Big Dipper, sniffing directions
from the stars. They eyed the paths
for tracks, bent twigs, colored threads
tied around weeds, scratch marks
in loose dirt, plucked berries
arranged like arrows, and other signs.
They wanted to climb into the tucked,
quilted beds, but instead, peered
into the windows, whose curtains
were parted just enough to glimpse inside.
Sometimes, little girls noticed them,
and screamed, thinking Indians had come.
Some girls left fish bones close
to the cabin, hoping to lure them,
to have a peek, then shriek with mock fear
as the bears bounded away,
retreating again over state borders,
as though pursued
by bees, or shotguns, or armies.
– ann neuser lederer
Travelling Bears first appeared in Miller's Pond 2005