If bees were bears
and bears were bees
they'd build their homes
at the bottoms of trees
Winnie the Pooh

Honey-eater, shaggy coat
bruin - the brown one
Sanskrit rksha
the destroyer
(of huts, of hives?)
myedvyed in Russian
"honey-seeker" and in Greek arktos
meaning perhaps "the hugger"
his true name unknown
not to be spoken
aloud for fear he'd hear
and come for you

Big and Little Bears so Father Zeus
set them circling the pole
and placed the bear star
Arcturus close by
thus from arktos the arctic
the bear land
watched over by star forms
that prowl the northern sky

I watched a family of bears
rubbing their backs
against a tree
like playful adolescents
and like us they're omnivores
but with more insects
than we prefer and nothing cooked
still of the animals they seem
most like us in their ways

Given my family name it's little wonder
I'm drawn to these wild cousins
thinking of those times not so far distant
when we shared living quarters
and though they're known
for being clumsy
I suspect the one who's clumsy
is more the Berman
than the bear