he texts me a photograph
of the bear scat he found

under the chokecherry bush
which is bent to the ground

stripped on one side
of all its red berries

but a black bear
in our civilized back yard

does it mean drought
in the foothills

does it mean boredom
and the need for adventure

does it mean the smell
of those little red berries

can travel for miles
or does it mean apocalypse

who can say perhaps it means
we aren’t alone here

perhaps it means
we need to clear the vines

from the outdoor camera
perhaps it means

black bears don’t recognize
fences and borders

perhaps it means the wild
is never that far away

Maureen Clark’s book This Insatiable August was released in 2024 by Signature Books. She has received two nominations this year for a Pushcart Prize. Her memoir Falling into Bountiful: Confessions of a Once Upon a Time Mormon won Honorable Mention in the 2024 Utah Original Writing Competition.