A pause, then piercing silence in the windstorm
Lasting long enough for me to be thankful
For a brief reprieve from the rattles and din
Ravaging our Balboa Bay mineral exploration tent-camp
On a frightening August Alaska Peninsula night.
The wild ruckus is perfect cover for the bear to attack, and
I swear I hear the wounded brown bear’s passing footsteps
Just outside my flapping tent, as it
Hunts for the man that shot him yesterday for proximity violation.
Several more hours before sunrise,
Yet I’m wide awake from the menacing uproar,
Appropriately worried,
Alone in the darkness,
Silently pleading with the bear and the blustering gales
To postpone the battle.
Someday this rugged land might take me away.
Until then I choose to trespass in its resplendence,
On a narrow, mountainous, alder strip of land
Separating he mighty Pacific Ocean from the angry Bering Sea.
Photo by my friend Nick Cain
Read more at desertidaho.com
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