Warmth by Chris Fewings

I take the perfect white-furred skin
and nail it to my wall, paw by paw.
Opposite, an exploration map stretched tight,
flags marking our advance.

The last bear in the wild. Still,
the DNA is bottled, and we’ve paid Saami
to manage a safari park. Who knows?
They might return.

Ice. It got in the way. The world needs oil.
I do my job. The economy is growing.
They say the globe is warming.
Nothing’s proven.

I shot her myself. Put her out of her misery.
Greenpeace wanted to keep her on her floe,
starving, for publicity. A colleague adopted the cub.
We care.

Girlfriend wanted her for a coat.
I got her a seal instead.
I wanted to keep a reminder of Eden
here in the field.

They’re amazing, the Northern Lights