A poem by Beverly Stock.
© Elena Lipko | Dreamstime.com
There was a bear of manners rough,
Who could take bee hives well enough.
He lived by plundered honey combs,
And raided other creatures’ homes.
Success had puffed him with conceit:
He boasted daily of some feat.
In arrogance right uncontrolled,
He grew pragmatic and very bold.
He grew dictator in his mood,
And seized on spoils he thought good;
From chickens, rising by degrees,
Including the local butcher’s fees!
After watching his neighbors by some rocks,
He took some food from a fox.
All creatures condemned him, and all would stare,
All alone was the greedy bear.
My rhyme is mixed with James McIntyre’s poem “Bear and Whale” in the public domain.