To a four legged Caribou
\nSo many miles spent running
\nThe gauntlet rapidly piles
\nOn the emotion, the frustration
\nAnd the pain
\nFor when they arrive
\nThey must come back again<\/p>\n
A terrible journey
\nWith wolves and with bears
\nTo eat them along with a good many scares
\nIts about subsistence and survival
\nFor they
\nKnow the reality
\nOr they will pay<\/p>\n
They have to be grounded
\nEnduring it all
\nIts all about calving
\nAnd their inner call
\nThey will run with the wolves
\nWho will run in and try
\nIts a great matriarchal event
\nAnd some die<\/p>\n
Its about Northern Canada
\nAnd it skyscape’s so bold
\nThrough huge finger forests
\nAnd real violent cold
\nThey must find the calving grounds
\nAll in good time
\nIts endless this dance
\nAll the passion and rhyme<\/p>\n
The adage that drives them
\nIs to run for their life
\nAnd the great Northern Forest
\nPresents its own strife
\nIts the females with antlers at this time
\nThe males
\nAre lead by the matriarchs
\nOr all else fails<\/p>\n
The great barren lands
\nStretch far and beyond
\nThey must run Through the snow
\nAnd always respond
\nTo conditions
\nOver great frozen lakes
\nThey must go
\nWhere the wolf boys are waiting
\nAs the caribou know<\/p>\n
The air is alive with their howling
\nFor they
\nAre excited to sample the
\nFresh flesh today
\nThey trail after them
\nWatching their every move
\nSuch effective predators
\nAlways in the groove<\/p>\n
They run like a racehorse
\nThese Caribou hordes
\nAnd have such endurance
\nWhich brings its rewards
\nThey show off their prowess
\nIn each ancient dance
\nAnd run circles around wolves
\nAnd never by chance<\/p>\n
Wolves never waste energy
\nUnless they know
\nThat they can catch prey
\nThey just will not go
\nThey will look at them carefully
\nSingling out one that is not quite so fit
\nAnd aiming for that one
\nThat ine they will hit<\/p>\n
It be the dark season
\nThe sun says farewell
\nOnly the Northern Lights
\nRamble and swell
\nThose magical greens
\nAnd blues in the sky
\nThe wolves may not manage
\nTo catch them a sigh<\/p>\n
Of relief, for the caribou
\nThat we can say
\nBut the wolves have the patience
\nTo wait and the way
\nAhead it gets longer and dangerously so
\nThe forest to feed
\nIs where the wolves can know<\/p>\n
They can creep closer
\nHiding in the trees
\nThere will be chances
\nThat just may now please
\nBut the Caribou are up to it
\nAnd they begin
\nTo run like the wind
\nTrying to underpin
\nThe escape one lot go left
\nAnd one she goes right
\nThe wolves follow her
\nShe’ll be dinner tonight<\/p>\n
You must run very fast
\nAnd you can’t make mistakes
\nThe wolves they are hungry
\nThey apply the brakes
\nThey are excellent hunters
\nThats what they do
\nAnd as I have said just bow
\nIts one dead Caribou<\/p>\n
So the wolf pack
\nWill eat well
\nAnd they need to for they
\nExist in the wilderness
\nWhich is where all do pay
\nThis time a Caribou
\nNext time a Bear
\nMay be a wolf cub
\nWith death they all share<\/p>\n
The snow is much deeper
\nAnd feeding is hard
\nThey must make holes and search
\nAnd of course stay on guard
\nThey look for the Reindeer Moss
\nA lichen that
\nWill give some energy
\nBut little fat<\/p>\n
They need to find food
\nBut not waste energy
\nMany are pregnant
\nAs we can now see
\nThrusting their antlers
\nInto the sky
\nThe females are proud
\nOf themselves which is why<\/p>\n
The males they will follow
\nInstinctively they
\nKnow the matriarch energy
\nIts going to play
\nOut very well it has done so before
\nSo all stick to the task
\nOf running for sure<\/p>\n
Its already April
\nAnd the sun has returned
\nIt hangs in the sky
\nFeeling concerned
\nThe calves are all growing
\nThe barren lands lie
\nThe great arctic tundra
\nThat stares up at the sky<\/p>\n
They have a long journey
\nKeep going keep on
\n20 Kilometres each day
\nOut upon
\nThis treacherous land
\nWith its fast melting snow
\nAs lots of green plants
\nBeginning to show<\/p>\n
After the barren lands
\nJust the last stage
\nA great desert of snow
\nRight off the page
\nUp to the Arctic ocean
\nThey go
\nTo the calving lands
\nTo give birth, for they know<\/p>\n
Then comes the trip back
\nWith babies so small
\nWhen they are born
\nThats when they fall
\nOut onto the ground
\nThey have to be
\nReady to run
\nAnd ready to be<\/p>\n
Up to the journey
\nAnd so birthing is late
\nIt means its a pain
\nFor the females
\nWho wait
\nTill this stage is reached
\nAnd their calves can then be
\nReady to run home
\nAs rapidly<\/p>\n
For if they can’t run
\nThe wolves will be there
\nThe grizzlies too
\nTo add to their despair<\/p>\n
And so the big journey
\nThey are ready to go
\nThe calves must stay up
\nWith their mothers, they know
\nIf they get split
\nThats it they are dead
\nThey will starve or get eaten
\nIts their watershed<\/p>\n
So off they all go
\nThe great march is on
\nAll of those miles
\nThis time out upon
\nThe journey with babies
\nNow all in tow
\nSome 50,000 babies you know<\/p>\n
In a week os so the babies can run
\nThey can out run the wolves
\nAnd so off in the sun
\nSome may get lost
\nAnd will die on their own
\nThis is the natural world
\nWe have all known<\/p>\n
The rivers are frantic
\nThat they have to cross
\nFlooded with ice water
\nAnd as they toss
\nThemselves into this maelstrom
\nSo once again
\nSome will be drowned
\nSome will suffer great pain
\nThe wolves and the bears
\nMight pick off a few
\nBut most will get home
\nBecause thats what they do<\/p>\n
And they did they got back
\nAnd would be ready to go
\nNext year again
\nBeing part of that show
\nThe Natural world it eclipses
\nMan
\nFor actually it is
\nAll going to plan
\nWe bugger it up
\nWe always do
\nHunting and trapping
\nAnd mining all through
\nBuilding roads and now fracking
\nWe only destroy
\nThats all we are good at
\nJust removing the joy<\/p>\n
From this planet <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To a four legged Caribou So many miles spent running The gauntlet rapidly piles On the emotion, the frustration And the pain For when they arrive They must come back again A terrible journey With wolves and with bears To … Continue reading