Helen Bowell - Bear

It turns out bear isn’t really the word for bear.

Petrified of conjuring a hulking, ravenous bear, our ancestors whispered what’s become our oldest, magic-free code-word: brown.

When we say bear, what we are really saying is,

There’s a brown in the woods. The brown is sleeping.

John faced the brown last week, and lived.

Today’s shamans say if you speak kindly to yourself

you’ll conjure wellness: I am a good person,

I am worthy of love. So why can’t you say it?

Go on, say it. Look in the mirror. Utter the spell.

Bellow it holding a staff, circling a fire.

Say, bear, say, bear, I’m not afraid, say,

I summon you, bear. I am worthy of love.

They promise the bear always comes.

First published in Ambit 239 (2020).