Reanimated Lavender Granola Switchblade Nun rides again.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Girl Who Dreamt Of Polar Bears

The girl who dreamt of polar bears

Always wore a black scarf, black gloves, soft black boots,

And a coat the color of a doe in winter.

In the frozen, brittle hours of night,

She invited them to meet her in the dream-time,

As if they might walk right in through her front door

Like guests for tea.



Will you purse your lips, look away, clear your throat

When I tell you that is almost exactly what they did?



With the sun barely higher in the sky than a lacrosse ball,

And bound to fall as fast,

She walked down to the Dairy Queen, and as she walked,

One,

Then two,

Then several

White bears began to follow her.

Polar bears have no natural enemies, and fear nothing.

They can tip a snowcat over as if it were a toy, and

Nom nom nom, no more driver.



Today,

This day,

The hockey boys didn't shout at her, didn't make rude invitations;

They just stopped on their skates and stared, as the puck slipped unnoticed past fat Jimmy Flynn.



On she walked, bears all around her.

The constable, with his rifle hanging by its strap over his good wide shoulder,

Simply stood there,

Like he'd never seen Girl With Polar Bears before.

Maggie Two Crows turned to him and said, "Dat's some white girl," and smiled as if she were little again and helping her mama make fry bread.



The girl who dreamt of polar bears arrived at Dairy Queen and stomped her boots.

The bears stood or sat, the breath from their big black noses making them look like locomotives.

The girl said to the boy inside,

"The bears are mothers of things known without teaching.

They got paws bigger than my head.

Gimme a cheeseburger and a hot chocolate.

Some for the bears too, eh?"



That is the story of the girl who dreamt of polar bears.

Her mama said she weren't no good,

But the bears liked her.

The bears told her about the Great Medicine Wheel.

She told them about Mats Sundin, famous captain of the Tronna Maple Leafs.

Anyway,

Makes a pretty good story, yeah? Damn right it do.

__________

for One Shot Wednesday

photo: Jennifer Connelly
__________

44 comments:

  1. "Tronna" Maple Leafs...I get it, Chica. ;) I may move there someday...which, to quote you, "is better than R.I."

    Love the line about bears being mothers of things known without teaching.

    PS - Are you part bear, Shay?? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Let's hear it for dem polar bears!

    Rawwwwwwr!

    ReplyDelete
  3. i want a polar bear too...
    beatuiful :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love this, and I am an avid Hockey fanatic...Penguins...Sid Crosby..I would fight a polar bear for him...and a good cheesburger...love it....bkm

    ReplyDelete
  5. ""The bears are mothers of things known without teaching.

    They got paws bigger than my head.

    Gimme a cheeseburger and a hot chocolate.

    Some for the bears too, eh?"

    You are awesome. Not exclamation point; PERIOD.

    All this AND JENNIFER CONNELLY too!

    You my gal pal :)


    Aloha from Waikiki

    Comfort Spiral

    ReplyDelete
  6. ha. you are brilliant shay...love the textures and the characters you interwove in this fanciful tale...nicely told.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Now, I shall dream of polar bears!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I don't know how you do it Shay. That was awesome!
    xo jj

    ReplyDelete
  9. I just love the picture your prose makes.
    Be on the look out for a girl with polar bears - one powerful chick

    You rock Shay

    Thanks for rocking with One Shot Wednesday!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. that was some piece..very inspirational and very unique..excellent work...i want to meet her!! cheers Pete

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is a gorgeous poem-tale. I love the feeling of ice and expanse that you have created and I so want to dream of polar bears now!

    "Her mama said she weren't no good,

    But the bears liked her."

    Wonderful just wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Die Meppel Liffs. You're the worst liffs evere! I never knew what he was going to do.

    (That's actually funnier if you remember the old Nike commercials with the out of work goalies.)

    But seriously girl, you do have the most fascinating dreams. And thank heavens she's not the girl who stares at goats.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh this was magical and delightful
    what an imagination!
    but....Chicago Blackhawks.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Impressive layering in your writing, all while creating a likeable character in such a short piece.
    Cheers, Shay

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is marvelous! I love the dialect, the fantasy, and I especially love polar bears. How wonderful to walk with, and be protected by, polar bear. Most of us had to rely on big brothers for that, and they are very unreliable indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I want a polar bear for a pet now :X :3 This is a very cute poem :P Imagine getting protection and warmth from them, it will be wonderful=D

    ReplyDelete
  17. Such fantastic whimsical writing - and yes - sometimes, I would have use for some polar bears as well... ;o

    ReplyDelete
  18. wow...
    pure enjoyment!

    standing ovation...with smiles,

    ReplyDelete
  19. Makes a damn good story alright! :)
    Brilliant imagery..
    Ahh.. dreams! How wonderfully they work! Just perfect.. No no, I ain't talking nightmares here.. just the good ones.

    Write on write on, my friend..

    ReplyDelete
  20. I think you and I have polar bears around us all the time, don't you?

    I do and we are the bearers of their teaching and this lovely poem and story is proof of that dear one, absolute divine proof.

    Love you so much

    Gm

    ReplyDelete
  21. LOVE iT shay. So good. The bear. Yep. Magic.

    ReplyDelete
  22. one dang fantastical story!

    ReplyDelete
  23. This NEEDS to be a book. A picture book. Brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
  24. It is a good story and somehow I prefer your world of possibility to the real world: it is honest, with the straight-forwardness of animals and true love.

    ReplyDelete
  25. A good story indeed! And a wonderful poem. I love your 'voice' in this poem It adds so much to the enjoyment of reading it. Thanks for sharing your gift!

    ReplyDelete
  26. A damn good story, indeed! I need a tome of FB's Bedtime Stories to read before I fall asleep. I'd never have nightmares again, and my dreams would be awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  27. You sure painted a deceptive blizzard~

    ReplyDelete
  28. Stunned, satiated, flabbergasted, melting like butter with a bit of garlic, happy, toasty, wistful and thinking of the girl that dreams of polar bears. This is a childrens book. I am going to read this to my daughter tonight, she will love it. Crazy good...crazy good.

    ReplyDelete
  29. man, we need some teachers. we have so much to learn. give us some lessons, bears, please.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I so love this story! Smiled all the way through.

    ReplyDelete
  31. great indeed.loved it to bits.I would prefer jaguars though or may be a black panther ;)

    ReplyDelete
  32. I'd just LOVE to be able to control my dreams...how cool that would be and I'd love to have a conversation with those bears.

    This:
    ""The bears are mothers of things known without teaching."

    I really, really like that and the mention of the medicine wheel!!!

    So imaginative...wow. Excellent, Shay!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. I thank you for this story that I can love with all my heart, voice and all.

    ReplyDelete
  34. "In the frozen, brittle hours of night, She invited them to meet her in the dream-time" Oh my gosh, this part is like a soft rain falling on my face and tender places. Exquisite.

    "Will you purse your lips" This makes me picture someone removing her lips and putting them away in her purse for safekeeping (in other words, forcing herself not to say anything). We all have to do it from time to time.

    Ooh, I love the build-up here; I'm getting excited:
    "and as she walked,
    One,
    Then two,
    Then several
    White bears began to follow her."

    Love this: "Like he'd never seen Girl With Polar Bears before."

    "The bears are mothers of things known without teaching." Oh yes. You had to say this and be brilliant.

    I want to know more about this medicine wheel of which you speak.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Sundin would love this! I know, because I love this, and I've always wanted to take the train to Churchill, Manitoba, to see the polar bears. So far, no one has agreed to go with me. My sister-in-law thought of it, then remembered she has young children. My husband heard me ask, but didn't think of replying.
    Sigh.
    K

    ReplyDelete
  36. Tronna Maple Leafs... ha ha ha. There is a sense of wonder for me in the piece. Sure, there are irreverent comments, but the whole time, my breath was held, waiting to see how it turned out. Like Beasts of the Southern Wild, only WAY north of that! Mystical, magical, and lovely writing, Shay. Love it. Amy
    http://sharplittlepencil.com/2012/12/18/marian-merlin-and-me/

    ReplyDelete
  37. I love this! You have a true gift for creating characters and worlds that we wish existed! The details make this so rich. It's fun!

    ReplyDelete
  38. loving your magical tales, SP!

    ReplyDelete

Spirit, what do you wish to tell us?