The Ballad Of Running Bear

They named him Running Bear. His life changed as he took in air from that very first new born day, For names give us power they say and his certainly shaped his future, He has a lot to live up to for sure because it was a very strong totem, He wanted to live up to it for them.

Like the grizzly he was inquisitive and he was prone to so wildly live, Courting danger at every opportunity he was as a child aloof but carefree, Large in size and with a mighty roar, They never understood what he saw when he'd complain with a sore head, Things must be changed he often said.

Running Bear knew his size was scary thought of as intimidating unfairly, He hated being treated unjustly for it, Put at the back or believed to be unfit so descrimination he knew full well, And he couldn't stand injustice to tell you the truth he'd get overly riled, Too much a handful, unruly as a child.

In his teens like his namesake he towers and sure he trains at the gym for hours, Burning off excess tension and angst, Made a mistake, started robbing banks and got into a downward spiral bad, At fifteen sent to juvie a troubled lad with little remorse or regret for actions, He didn't take well to the interactions.

They joked he wasn't a Running Bear, He was locked up in a tiny cage there made to suffer with so little privacy, An outdoors nature trapped in you see wasn't a good fit for him so he snapped feeling trapped, provoked, needs space, It's written all over his anguished face.

When he got out he was just eighteen, And he ran away to a whole new scene, Found the forests and kept to himself built a cabin and earnt his own wealth, Crafting wood to his own unique style a skill he'd learnt inside to beat denial, And now it was paying off for him, Got himself a shop and still went the gym.

At twenty one Running Bear is a man, Muscular and tall he's a lot bigger than anyone in the area so he's left all alone, But he's learnt to tame his beast, to own his anger issues and channel his strength, He gives back to others soon at length many a pretty woman catches his eye, And in truth too even the random guy.

Bears wander and in Winter hibernate, By the end of the Fall he wanted a mate so he could settle down all cosy at home, Running Bear no longer wants to be alone but trouble always tried to involve him people see him and his past and look grim, Blame and shame, try to run him down it wasn't a warm welcome he got in town.

Hunters or poachers drunk in the wood fired their guns blindly where he's stood and Running Bear fell a bullet to the head, Poor big fella shot in his prime, he's dead, And his body is left and the culprits run with no motive or proof, evidence or gun, Just a beautiful creature in prime of life Looking to a future settling with a wife.

Now names are important and as he died they opened his will and found inside he'd asked for his ashes to be scattered, Down by the river as there it mattered to him, as that's where he was conceived, The most beautiful spot to be believed, There where the bears catch their fish as they fly upriver, that was his last wish.