Kenosis
Mid-January, & the bear who hasn’t had a meal in two months, & won’t for another three, half- wakes to chew sticks into soft chips—bedding for the cubs who will soon be born & squall & nurse. She may leave the den to eat snow or merely dream of it. Her heart beats eight times a minute. But from the fastness of her dark unhungering body milk will flow.
I’m indebted to a blog post from the North American Bear Center, “Lily Makes Bedding,” for the detail about chewing sticks — which sounds as if it was new discovery for the researchers. (The bear in the poem is on more of a Pennsylvania hibernating schedule, however.)
Dave Bonta
SourceLicence:CC BY-SA 4.0