Mostly memory of moose is myth
Stories told by summer bonfires of
Antlered menace’s bellowing charge
Tall tales about the huge stuffed head
Above the Y camp’s rocky hearth
But one memory of moose is mine and true
From girlhood’s past unfaded
While trolling from a boat midstream
Drifting through the peaceful pines
A single shot cracked loud and lethal
Off from the right dense forest bank
Came anguished howl of giant’s pain
Then answering close by on the left
A bull moose tore through tangled brush
Majestic grace in headlong motion
His fearless ford to mate and fate
We witnessed awestruck frozen
The splendor in our wake receded
Until a final hail of shorts mortified
Confounding remembrance still
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Copyright Deborah McGlauflin 2009. All rights reserved
