A bolt of lightning moving down the sky

              is enough. The plastic smell

of conditioned air

  and the tick-tick of my dog

breathing beside me—

                                                             I was not always this___.

A grizzly in Yellowstone

   digs under rocks to find

          cutworm moths—spots like still eyes.

The moths fly up when disturbed,

           and land in swarms on the bear’s arms.

He licks them from his fur,                 the dust of their wings

covering his tongue.

                   He watches squirrels stash pine-nuts

so he can steal them just before hibernating. The diet

         is elk calf after waking,

then salmon, the moths, and finally

                                   the nuts.

                                                             There are few inconsistencies here.

I have imagined what it would be like,

                           and decided I would want to be ripped,

too—to know you. You worry

                           this might not be normal. I say

you run the risk of burning

when you breathe that hard.