The Sand Hill Review               http://www.sandhillreview.org 2011

Polar Bear, San Francisco Zoo

Shell-shaped ears no longer

hear ice move. She paces

concrete to wall to

downsized dreams

before joining a plastic floe

and red ball in the small pool.

Massive paws shape liquid

to a mouth that makes no sound.

Day stretches ahead as she

imitates a rug

on this public hearth.

In half-sleep, she continues

to bite her paw,

a habit she developed

years ago. Sun casts shadows

on her vanilla body as she rests,

projecting what she was

onto what she has

learned to be:

two black eyes

searching

for the silence of white.

Janice Dabney