Down from the purple mist of trees on the mountain,
lurching through forests of white spruce and cedar,
stumbling through tamarack swamps,
came the bull moose
to be stopped at last by a pole-fenced pasture.
Too tired to turn or, perhaps, aware
there was no place left to go, he stood with the cattle.
They, scenting the musk of death, seeing his great head
like the ritual mask of a blood god, moved to the other end
of the field, and waited.
The neighbours heard of it, and by afternoon
cars lined the road. The children teased him
with alder switches and he gazed at them
like an old, tolerant collie. The woman asked
if he could have escaped from a Fair.
The oldest man in the parish remembered seeing
a gelded moose yoked with an ox for plowing.
The young men snickered and tried to pour beer
down his throat, while their girl friends took their pictures.
And the bull moose let them stroke his tick-ravaged flanks,
let them pry open his jaws with bottles, let a giggling girl
plant a little purple cap
of thistles on his head.
When the wardens came, everyone agreed it was a shame
to shoot anything so shaggy and cuddlesome.
He looked like the kind of pet
women put to bed with their sons.
So they held their fire. But just as the sun dropped in the river
the bull moose gathered his strength
like a scaffolded king, straightened and lifted his horns
so that even the wardens backed away as they raised their rifles.
When he roared, people ran to their cars. All the young men
leaned on their automobile horns as he toppled.
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Comments
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There are some similar thoughts, like the mocking, pity and cruelty. But to me, the poem isn't a parallel to the events that happened with Jesus while walking the Via Sacra. I see the moose as a metaphor to all those who are misunderstood by their looks, mind and hearts; and the limits of minds. We can all take just so much before reacting.
Excellent poem. -
Is the poet deliberately making a metaphor or recording events where the crowd unwittingly replay events of 2000 years ago.
The teasing with alder switches or scourging
the booze instead of water mirroring the vinegar
the cap of thistles for a cap of thorns.
There is one definited difference though. The poet writes of the moose "perhaps, aware
there was no place left to go"; that cannot have a parallel with the crucifixion.
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It's like the once great King of Chief who at the end finds that last strength to die on his own terms, to die a man, err, moose.
If indeed it's a parallel to Christ as the other comment states, that adds interest, but it can also stand on it's own, a parable of ignorance, cruelty and of course reclaiming dignity. -
i have always enjoyed this thoroughly,
in certain discussions that I have had
in english lit, this particular incident,
and one of the bull moose all conveys a similar
thing that happened to Jesus Christ prior
to his crucifixion...one of the best that
poses as a great significance as one walks
through life pondering on the things to come,
and might be! Might as well believe than
be sorry!
Anyway, it's great to find one of the great
Canadian poets of our time, and be able to read
his work on this site, beside in the Wascana anthology book.
Rena~
Edited on Apr 03, 2:11 because ''.
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