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Grizzly

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Three truant scholars spending our sabbaticals in crisp Colorado, we all re-read Walden, dared to drink from streams so icy clear the fish seemed suspended in mid-air. Our flimsy nylon shelters shielded us from what weather there was to worry on, as summer slipped to autumn and autumn waned winterward. Four full years past we trekked those trails through stands of timber frequented by fox, by birds, by deer -- and by growling grizzlies. We walked well-wooded hillsides of mixed conifers and broadleaf. In deep drafts we breathed the earthy air. Now, when my son hugs his honey bear, red-jacketed, black-button eyed, I see the hellish maw, the bloodied claw, of the darkish-brown raging beast that tore off my arm and maimed two sages, amid the yellow quaking aspen where, yet, that gory grizzly ages.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2011




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Date: 7/7/2012 10:05:00 AM
You three truant scholars were in the wildest of Colorado wilds for sure. Your piece packs a terrible punch. Congrats on the selection. daver
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Date: 7/3/2012 9:46:00 AM
A peaceful nostalgic reverie of Colorado adventure until the last five heat-pounding panicky lines. Fantastic reading! I have always had a healthy fear of these mighty animals - Tim
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Date: 4/24/2011 4:18:00 PM
Ouch, that sounds scarey enough. I don't think grampa's cane would help any.:( You were lucky to come away alive, Leo! Oh, I don't know what I'd do coming up against a bear! You're the outdoors type, it seems, and your tales are amazing! Best to you and yours, Mikki
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Book: Shattered Sighs