The Embrace


A polar bear swaggered on the ice,
heard the snow shift,
saw only white earth, white sky,
sat on his huge flanks, pondering
the empty universe, nothing to eat,
and drifted near sleep,
swatting unconsciously
when the crashing world curved inward upon the jaws
of a killer whale
and the living sea embraced his white body.


Donald Zirilli
1989