The Grizzly

I am peeled apart by this uncontainable joy,

This explosive, hunger passion that can rock

The concrete foundations of a city that runs

Ten layers deep, spills into a freshwater ocean,

Wears its heavy dreams on its broad shoulders.

.

It burns inside of me like the crescendo of a song

Penned with tongues of flame, marked with magma.

The volcanic dreams of theses skyscrapers carry

Souls on their back as though they're pilgrims

Running and hiding from the fallow soil of home.

.

This is the home of the weather-hardened,

Those made hungry by endless freezes and damp,

Unyielding springs full of thundering violence.

The hailstones that bruise form the character

And the losses that ache strengthen the soul.

.

But there is a predator at the back of our throats,

Roaring with the force of its million small parts

All eager to shake the snow off our backs.

There is a monster in the midpoint of our smiles,

A bear rattling the cage and loosening the lock.