In the woods, in the mountains
Is a good place to begin
A song about a black bear
Living in his black bear den
Doing all the black bear things
A black bear just might do
I hope in my next lifetime
I could be a black bear too
And here comes black bear now
Crashing through the brush
Unfazed by thorns and branches
That would hurt me to the touch
In pursuit of some small animal
The food chain is a truth
And the bear has the advantage
Of the massive claw and tooth
But he'll also stop for berries
Or honey from the bees
Or nuts that he can shake down
From the canopy of trees
And afterwards he'll have his choice
From any stream to drink
While I'll fill up another cup
From my old kitchen sink
And if he wants he'll have a nap
And dream his black bear dreams
That I could only dream of
Like I dream to drink from streams
And as he sleeps he hears the breeze
And knows that he is safe
While I'm sleeping with the fan on
To drown out my lack of faith
The simplicity of solitude
Is a hard thing to perfect
Stealing happiness from loneliness
Is not a simple theft
But the black bear has it figured out
And gets what he deserves
And the fur that he is wearing
Is the fur that he prefers
And when he stared across the river
Into my eyes it made me shiver
And I knew that it was lovely
To have a black bear thinking of me
And when he thinks
He is thoughtful
And when he rests
He is restful
And when he runs
He runs the fastest
And spins the earth right on its axis
And that's his gift to all
Showing us the sun
Keeping time for everyone
A steady beating drum
And all the dirt he bounds upon
He'd leave his heavy track
That is deep when he is young and blue
But deepest when he's black
Because color for the black bear
Is a synonym for age
If I were one then I'd be in my
Cinnamon Phase
Instead I am a 22
And the decades weight a ton
This new century's essentially
A bullet from the gun
It takes coffee pots that cost a lot
Just to stay abreast
But the coffee hits my sense of loss
And makes a nervous wreck
The simplicity of solitude
Is a hard thing to perfect
Stealing happiness from loneliness
Is not a simple theft
But the black bear has it figured out
And gets what he deserves
And the fur that he is wearing
Is the fur that he prefers
And when he stared across the river
Into my eyes it made me shiver
And I knew that it was lovely
To have a black bear thinking of me
And when he thinks
He is thoughtful
And when he rests
He is restful
And when he runs
He runs the fastest
And spins the earth right on its axis