Honeyed Aggression
As the woman swallowed the man her child watched. Suspended in time, the child will peek around the doorframe having confused eyes. Slowly, slowly swoops the scavenger, down on the weak, white-haired bear. Once strong, now he is unable to claw bravely at attackers. In that faraway land of salmon and honey he had met that young foreign bear, so lovely. Changing, shifting over years to her true vulture form as the child watched. Downstairs behind closed doors even older bears listen, and hearing the sounds of the fight wait hopefully for the unanticipated roar of a bear that used to battle. Scraps of an old uniform fall; the bear becomes bruised and bloodied. Long shirts hide the scars and the bear pulls back sleeves in secret. On that lucky day, the vulture has taken the child out. A brawny bear has come to move old furniture. The old bear has done what he can. Do healthy bears leave old bears behind?