Bear

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Karen
Chase

Bear

Land of Stone

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JAM

Our love is not the short
courtly kind but
upstream, down,
long inside - enjambed,
enjoined, conjoined, and
jammed, it’s you, enkindler,
enlarger, jampacked man of many
stanzas, my enheartener – love
runs on from line to
you, from line to me and me
to you, from river to sea and sea to
land, hits a careless coast, meanders
way across the globe – land
ahoy! water ahoy! - love
with no end, my waters go
wherever you are, my stream
of consciousness.

BEAR SAFETY

From The Bear Safety
Pamphlet-
Do not run.
Let the bear know you are not prey.
Act human, wave your arms.
Speak to the bear

Are you scared,
Bear? Does my smell
cause your fur to curdle?
You make my skin crawl.

Do my English words
worry you? Can you feel
my breath Bear? Do you
worry Bear, who’s in charge?
Sometimes you go too far.
I am thirsty

for your burgundy meat.
What do you think?
You’d eat me, Bear, and I,
I would eat you. And you?
What is it you want?
My skin is white and smooth.

I do not belong
in this far north town
where there are tales
of men and bear who marry.
I’d never live near
the allusive luscious
sea with you.

Stand on your
hind legs, Bear, and I
will stand on mine, let’s
face each other down.

HOW TO DAYDREAM

Unplug the phone.
Don’t check for messages.
Don’t make a list of who you should call and chores.
Don’t fret whether it’s who or whom.
Was that a mouse? Don’t put d-Con in the attic.
There’s no bread in the house – forget about lunch.
Don’t consider whether you’ll get a chicken salad sandwich
at the bagel store.
Don’t check your email.
Don’t, when you get an idea….oh forget it.
I just heard a bird singing.
Now I’m watching the trees blowing.
Is there supposed to be a thunderstorm?
Don’t check the weather channel.
The other day I paid bills, made calls, cleared the decks.
This room is cold now - I’ll turn the heat up.
Don’t look up daydreaming to see what it makes you think of. Meditation. Don’t call a friend to find out
how to start meditating. Meditation Once
there was
a lost
soldier who
wandered into a
cathedral. His cap on, he had crossed the
trolley tracks, walked along
a river. Music tugged at
him to go to a mikvah
to chant, and praise
the ammunition but a sign
said Prohibited.
I cannot tell you the time of day, nor what
the light was like, I cannot say whether it was
midmorning or late, or even what country it was.
I cannot even tell you that there was a beautiful beach
there.