When I met Bear and Porcupine I could not help but compare,

seeing these two creatures made Me think, what an unlikely pair.

 

They both lived in the Forest so they must have similar likes,

but Bear was big with soft fur while Piney was small with sharp spikes.

 

They made it easy to spy on them 'cause they lived in plain sight,

I saw Bear foraged by day while Porcupine foraged at night.

 

I knew Bear was a carnivore who preferred meat, fish, and grubs,

while Porcupine was an herbivore who ate plants, bark, and scrubs.

 

As I continued to compare the traits of the big and small,

I began to wonder if they had some common likes at all.

 

But this all changed when I saw them eating raspberries in the fall,

and I caught Bear eating Porcupine's roots and that was not all.

 

I saw both of them climbing trees every now and again. Bear,

was quite skilled but Porcupine made Me cry out, hold on my dear!

 

As time passed by I saw more things that Bear and Porcupine shared,

from digging in the moist dirt to acting mean when they were scared.

 

I was not stunned when I found their dens side by side in the dark,

after all they both liked underground homes quite near to the park.

 

I even confused them due to their low-to-the-ground designs,

their cupped little ears, low growls, and short tails stuck on their behinds.

 

Watching the big and the small I began to finally see, 

they were quite similar and certainly more alike than Me.

 

Both lumbered along pawing the ground in an endearing way,

living in a changing climate without clothes, car, or driveway.

 

When it came time for Me to leave their home the very next fall,

I concluded these creatures were not so unlikely at all.

 

Kathleen Zimmerman is an artist, writer, and a Sierra Club member.