Two Poems from the Bestiary

Taboo Deformation Science now hangs a radio transmitter on the bear’s neck to trace his movements, but we may ask who is really lost. – Paul Shepard Unmentionable one, changing maiden, winter sleeper, large brown one, listener, old man in the fur coat, great one, old mother, honey eater, forest virgin, golden king, four-legged human, uncle of the woods, crooked tail, light foot, honey paws, elder brother, the beast that walks like a man, dog of God, short-tail, big-feet, sacred virgin, grandfather, the one who prowls at night, honey pig, loner, owner of the earth, god of the mountains, fur man, forest master, licker, woolly one, wild one of the northern woods. Throughout circumpolar prehistory people considered the bear sacred, ineffable, taboo – its real name was forbidden. Bera, beron, bar, bjorn, bher, bruin, bear. All of these just describe colour – ‘the brown one’ – the bear’s names are attempts not to say its name. The bear is predator and prey, east and west, mother and father,…