Black Bear

In the woods in the mountains is a good place to begin
a song about a black bear living in his black bear den
doing all the black bear things a black bear just might do
I hope in my next lifetime I could be a black bear too
And here comes black bear now, crashing through the brush
unfazed by thorns and branches that would hurt me to the touch
in the pursuit of some small animal; the foodchain is a truth
and the bear has the advantage of the massive claw and tooth
but he'll also stop for berries or honey from the bees
or nuts that he can shake down from the canopy of trees
and afterward he'll have his choice from any stream to drink
while I fill up another cup from my old kitchen sink
and if he wants, he'll have a nap and dream his black bear dreams
that I could onyll dream of like i dream to drink from streams
and as he sleeps he hears the breeze and knows that he is safe
while I'm sleeping with the fan on to drown out my lack of faith
the simplicity of solitude is a hard one to perfect
stealing happiness from lonliness is not a simply theft
but the black bear has it figured out and gets what he deserves
and the fur that he is wearing is the fur that he prefers
and when he stared across the river
into my eyes it made me shiver
and i knew that it was lovely
to have a black bear thinking of me
and when he thinks, he is thoughtful
and when he rests, he is restful
and when he runs, he runs the fastest
and spins the earth right on its axes
and that's his gift to all, showing us the sun
keeping time for everyone, a steady beating drum
and in all the dirt he bounds upon he leaves a stady track
that is deep when he is young and blue, but deepest when he's black
because color for the black bear is a synonym for age
if I were one then i'd be in my cinnamon phase
instead I am at twenty two and the decades way a ton
this new century's essentially a bullet from a gun
it takes coffee pots that cost a lot just to stay abreast
but the coffee hits my sense of loss and makes a nervous wreck
the simplicity of solitude is a hard one to perfect
stealing happiness from lonliness is not a simple theft
but the black bear has it figured out and gets what he deserves
and the fur that he is wearing is the fur that he prefers