What the
brown bear teaches us about grief …
(after Clare
Shaw)
That it exists all over the world, but not many people ever
consider its status.
It is the biggest bear on Earth. In north America it is
often called grizzly.
It is rare in some cultures but is not threatened with
extinction.
It has an enormous range and is not territorial. It feeds on
almost anything.
It will eat sheep and goats and can intimidate wolves.
It lives in dark places, likes to stay in caves, and usually
hides from people.
It is nocturnal, but is often active in the day.
It can rage, even when not prompted, and can be extremely aggressive.
It is not predictable and will surely attack if threatened.
It is more likely to attack you if you try to run away.
It is very strong, sometimes five times usual human strength.
It can bite hard, even crush a human head.
It huffs when tense, woofs when alarmed, roars and growls in
aggression.
It can be slothful, but will also often climb trees, and
walls, terrifyingly fast.
Its colour varies widely from red to dark brown, sometimes
almost black.
Its outer coat is not soft, but wiry, and is dense in winter.
It has a massive skull and a large brain, but doesn’t always
think straight.
It may have spectacles, but they won’t help it to see more
clearly.
It is long lived, maybe 40 years or more in the wild.
If it could speak, it would say that all this is incorrect,
because it is big on denial.
And sometimes, sometimes, for no apparent reason, it will dance.
*See also Clare Shaw’s, ‘What the goldfish taught me about
love’, from their collection, Towards a
General Theory of Love. (Bloodaxe 2022)
Image: brown bear, oil on sketch pad, by me.
