Ballad of the Bear
Into the fray you surge
Cut left, right and down
Till the blood in your ears
Pumps the same sound
In the melee all time stops
You sense a great quiet
Though men fall down
All around in the riot
At last it is done!
Though you hardly believe
Just two men stay standing
But do your eyes deceive?
It is he! It is he!
Your nerves are shaken
As you realize the danger
Of the chance you have taken
A win for the team!
The townspeople applaud
You take a quick moment
To graciously nod
But only one may triumph
You stand there before him
Raising your sword
With a bone-tired limb
He bows to you low
As he takes up his own
And you have a strange sense
As if you were alone
Just you and he locked
In this last deadly dance
You hold back and wait
You give him a chance
He strikes and he parries
You dance round and round
Until slowly the rhythm
Of the old rite is found
You decide in a flash
The decisive moment
You stumble and fall
Before your opponent
Waiting for a moment
He lays down his blade
He lifts you up to your legs
And removes his façade
The crowd gasps aloud
As they take in the sight
Of this proud soldier bear
Who dwells in the light
You lose to him gladly
Bowing down in shame
That at first you refused
To invite him to the game
The archers stand taut
The marshal’s mouth gapes
Fishwives forget gossip
Fools forget japes
Stepping forward you say
To the stunned crowd above,
“This Bear is my best friend
And gentle as a dove!
For years we have fought
To rid ourselves of a curse
Not seeing how we only
Made our own lives worse
With unthinking loathing
We invented our lore
To protect us from fear
From the gaping void’s roar
You see here before you
The best of us all
On two legs or four
He is nobody’s thrall!”
The people all cheer
Tossing out rose petals
While your fallen comrades
Pull out all their nettles!
And together you return
To your village in glory
You, Bear and the rest
Who inhabit this story
And so he survived
He thrived many years
As your neighbor and friend
Through joy and in tears
And the horror was turned
Into blossoming pride
Years of war and pain
All happ’ly cast aside
Cut left, right and down
Till the blood in your ears
Pumps the same sound
In the melee all time stops
You sense a great quiet
Though men fall down
All around in the riot
At last it is done!
Though you hardly believe
Just two men stay standing
But do your eyes deceive?
It is he! It is he!
Your nerves are shaken
As you realize the danger
Of the chance you have taken
A win for the team!
The townspeople applaud
You take a quick moment
To graciously nod
But only one may triumph
You stand there before him
Raising your sword
With a bone-tired limb
He bows to you low
As he takes up his own
And you have a strange sense
As if you were alone
Just you and he locked
In this last deadly dance
You hold back and wait
You give him a chance
He strikes and he parries
You dance round and round
Until slowly the rhythm
Of the old rite is found
You decide in a flash
The decisive moment
You stumble and fall
Before your opponent
Waiting for a moment
He lays down his blade
He lifts you up to your legs
And removes his façade
The crowd gasps aloud
As they take in the sight
Of this proud soldier bear
Who dwells in the light
You lose to him gladly
Bowing down in shame
That at first you refused
To invite him to the game
The archers stand taut
The marshal’s mouth gapes
Fishwives forget gossip
Fools forget japes
Stepping forward you say
To the stunned crowd above,
“This Bear is my best friend
And gentle as a dove!
For years we have fought
To rid ourselves of a curse
Not seeing how we only
Made our own lives worse
With unthinking loathing
We invented our lore
To protect us from fear
From the gaping void’s roar
You see here before you
The best of us all
On two legs or four
He is nobody’s thrall!”
The people all cheer
Tossing out rose petals
While your fallen comrades
Pull out all their nettles!
And together you return
To your village in glory
You, Bear and the rest
Who inhabit this story
And so he survived
He thrived many years
As your neighbor and friend
Through joy and in tears
And the horror was turned
Into blossoming pride
Years of war and pain
All happ’ly cast aside