grizzly
ahead
standing in the switchback
scratching on a cedar
he sees me
stops
drops to all fours
stares
I tense
he still stares
shakes his mass
snorts
chuffs
paws the path
shakes his head
chuffs again
turns…
ambles away
I exhale
shake
rob kistner © 2019
DAY 23
They are so large! especially when it’s you and them with only a path between…
Yes, it is unnerving Kerfe. This is an embellished retelling of an encounter l had while hiking Lost Lake Trail, up out of Zig Zag Oregon. This is what occured, but mine was a black bear. It was sill damned large and frightening, but not quite grizzly size. To add a bit of drama, I inserted a grizzly – poetic license you know. Although sadly the great brown grizzlies were wiped out in Oregon in the 1930’s. It was still an exhilarating and memorable experiencd with the black bear, but I felt grizzly sounded more menacing for the tension of the poem… snd I loved this photo found of the grizzly standing in the path.