Tuesday Poem - Bear Cloud

Bear Cloud

We saw it in the sky – a sign.

Some said of abundance,

promising bounty and a long life.

It galloped  towards the horizon

lifting feet too delicate for the

white bulk they carried so swiftly.

We’d seen it before carved into rock

a quiver of crude spears

decorating its hide

and something like it

at the edge of the world

prowling between snow and stars.

Now in clouds, it announces

its own death –

ribbed like a slow ship

lumbering landlocked

or rolling in endless water

beyond reach.

For a moment it hung above us

shadowing the land beneath –

and hunger soured the ghost breath

that knuckled down our spines.

           

Catherine Bateson© from Poems from the End of the World. 

Check out the Tuesday Poem blog for other poems from all parts of the world. On the hub, guest editor Andrew Bell brings us 'Bad Housekeeping' by Emma Neale - a delight of a poem! Do read it.