starbear

Hebe Kearney, New Sealand

i am jaws in a river
chomping through fatty flesh,
ripping orange meat irreparable –
wild there in a rush and free.
i have always loved salmon;
a bear in another lifetime.

dipping into the bright torrent
water is celestial
at first foamy then cool
i am in the stars;
part of a bigger life than ours.

in my mind i am always walking home,
having been away for some months
being a bear in a river,
but my feet
never touch the concrete.

i want to be floating.
weightless was the goal, after all,
learning how to wrestle with gravity,
that big ugly brute,
forcing us down, down.

i dip my belly in the river for the thrill of it.
my furry undercarriage
protects me from the elements,
and the fires that forged them
sparkle above wryly, telling me

it is time to dream bigger than this.

Hebe Kearney is a queer poet who lives in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland. Their work has appeared in The Three Lamps, Oscen, Starling, Tarot, a fine line, Mayhem, and the Poetry New Zealand Yearbook.