2/1/2020 POETRY: JOANNE arnottHALFLING BEAR (ECLIPSE) the trophy hunter has it the scientists & the media celebrate, debate, discuss photos of the corpse fly all around the world & linger for years the miracle of courtship alignment sought & found the passing of a honeymoon the wonder of apparent difference transcended with pleasure the private rendezvous of polar bear & grizzly, followed by months of solitary gestation of nurturing, nursing feeding teaching the young all the years of a young bear’s life discoveries, missteps, accomplishments the cultural patterning inhabited, as taught by the mother & the world met, step by step all these disappear into bloodlust & big money dna proofs & a too small sample the death of a halfling bear reveals the minds of scientific observers & all forms of prejudice: miscegenation still, so scandalous this is not a freakshow but evidence of life unfolding & showing its shape as it goes the elders say, usually they fight but not this time "halfling bear(eclipse)" originally published in Halfling Spring: an internet romance (Kegedonce Press 2013) Joanne Arnott is a Métis/mixed-blood writer and arts activist, originally from Manitoba, at home on the west coast. She received the Gerald Lampert Award (LCP 1992) and the Vancouver Mayor’s Art Award for Literary Arts (2017). She published six poetry books, a collection of short nonfiction and a children’s illustrated. Recent publications include her third poetry chapbook, Pensive & beyond (Nomados Press 2019) and the co-edited volume, Honouring the Strength of Indian Women: Plays, Stories and Poetry by Vera Manuel (U of Manitoba Press 2019). She is Poetry Mentor for The Writers Studio, SFU, and Poetry Editor for EVENT Magazine.
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