By James McDermott
there are several types of bear Asian
Black American Black Brown adult males
have large bodies stocky legs small rounded
ears shaggy hair big paws for bears staring
is an aggressive act bears snort moan blow
tongue click jaw click lip pop bears claw bears bite
bears rub themselves up against trees to leave
their scent to mark territory bears like
to dominate bears love fresh meat bears feast
on anything bears are hunted their flesh
their fur in sub cultures bears are worshipped
bears are seen as father figures bears are
sometimes made to jig for entertainment
bears cubs don’t just live in forests Google
defines bear as mammal toy to carry
a weight to be rugged shaggy man’s man
James McDermott's spoken word collection 'Manatomy', longlisted for Polari's First Book Prize 2021, is published by Burning Eye and their pamphlet 'Erased' is published by Polari Press. James's new pamphlet which explores the queerness of nature is forthcoming in December 2022 from Broken Sleep Books. James's poems have been widely published in magazines including Poetry Wales, 14 Poems and The Cardiff Review.