The Bear in the Tree |Kelly Hegi |Poetry

Waiting for our pizza

The news travels quickly

There’s a bear in a tree in the park

It’s treated as everyday news

Normal – pass me the hot peppers

Again, and again the news circulates as we eat

Can I get another napkin?

There’s a bear in the tree at the park

2 blocks away. Check please

On the road back to the hotel

What else could we do?

We pull over, roll the windows down to let in the beautiful Ely evening

And watch

The police unfurl their caution tape

The crowd of 12-year-old boys are getting too close

Patting the tree with their hands

Trying to wake the bear

The cops sit on the hoods of their squads waiting and watching

There’s a crowd in this small place

Watching the black fluffy mass stretch and snooze and eventually descend

He trundles quickly out of the park and into an alley

Surprisingly agile and fast

The crowd disperses

The police rewrap their yellow tape

Where is everyone going?

True

There is no longer a bear in a tree in the park

Now?

There’s a 400-pound apex predator in the alley

It appears that is everyday news

Photo by Alexandre Brondino on Unsplash

BIO

Kelly Hegi is a writer currently living in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband, three kids and two dogs. She is a licensed minister, an active Spiritual Director and writes to explore everyday life from a more creative lens. She has just begun to get published and is still stunned every time it happens.

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