Ivainglorious

He tromped steadily with vainglorious posture
Into dark and barbaric wood
The snap of root beneath him vibrated a high hat syncopation
Tisk tisk counterpoint to the thunderous
Boom and boom of violent step
 
He was a fortress of ability
Cloaked in musky matted brown and carcass of meal
The scent of which filled his moist thrust and intake of frosted forrest air
Filling giant lungs with monstrous roar
And raised his swinging head to shout a warning  
Unstopable emphasis shown  
By extension of bulk  
And arms squeezing menace between massive paws
 
This alarm echoed through shadowy expanses of Aspen and the Evergreen
Releasing a riot of wings  
And emptying the rookery
The Forrest felt the tick tock tick  
Of a grandfather clock's hollow chest and emptiness  
Desolation's silence became deafening
 
All activities of the normal lives of communal creatures were ordered:
Cease and desist  
And they burrowed and denned
They hid in shelters built for temporary oasis
And their hearts beat with mad desire for what lay outside of these spaces
 
They preoccupied themselves through the chaotic approach
Gathered well and nurtured their offspring with nut and berries
And well spent breath to calm claustrophobic urge
 
It would end
They knew that it would
But each time it felt as if the first time
When trouble encroached and compromised solidarities unit
singular minds often dream alike
Even the smallest of these  
Felt enormous in it's own existence  
 
The bear
And his sweltering cause  
Had brought new reminder to his domain
His bravado and grand display
breeding virtue and patience in spite of himself