For Derek Godin

I must admit, I did not believe the letters I received

Until I witnessed with wide eyes

The bear cubs in the nearby, but nevertheless wild forest

Who were being raised by human townswomen.

I interviewed them all: wives, aunts, daughters, mothers, and grandmothers,

Who insisted that the cubs had been by themselves for so long,

It seemed natural to assume they had been abandoned.

Why not give them a chance at a better life? 

I watched the cubs try to wrap their strong teeth and tongues 

Around what we call language, and develop dexterity with their paws 

To wield small tools. Their fingers lengthened like the nights of fall,

The days’ waning stretching the shadows of the timber trees.

The project seemed to be developing marvellously.

I decided to recruit an assistant with wildlife experience

To help me monitor and interpret the cubs’ progress.

On my colleague’s first day, nearing the edge of wintertide,

We entered the formerly untamed glade to observe the women 

And their cubs in their huts (as I had been doing for a whole lunar month).

Instead, we were aghast to discover a scene of utmost carnage: 

The domesticated babes had been brutally slaughtered.

The women told us the mother bears had done it.

“Lest they grow up to be crafty like humans, doctor,”

My wildlife interpreter informed me grimly. Apparently, the bear mothers 

Had wanted their cubs acclimatised to the cold 

And strengthened before facing their first solitary winter.

Bathed in the bloodshed of their young,

The human women wailed. Their husbands sternly cautioned 

That they should not despair over their lost cubs:

They may, unwisely, draw more unwanted mourners.

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Samara Garfinkle is a Montreal-based classical soprano, poet, and voice teacher

with a Master of Music from the University of Ottawa. Her poetry has been published in Lantern Magazine, Columba Poetry, and Yolk Literary, and her debut chapbook, Dual Realms, was released with Cactus Press in July 2022. Samara is the host and co-coordinator of SpeakUp: The Montreal Interactive Poetry Exchange.