New Memory #1
by Sean Cho A.
For a long time it was cold. a perfect environment
for polar bears. the polar bears thrived. ate the seals
injured the polar bears wrote the laws and texts
and chose which ones were “worth keeping”. today
it is warm and there are many star fruits growing.
yet the sun bear is still perceived as a weaker bear
not because of their small bodies or lack of applicable
skills. in the trees young sun bears are learning bear history.
their books’ are water damaged from snow
*
the sun bears at the university too. there are many sun bears right now
in lecture halls listening to lectures about sun bear theory. some sun bears
will go to school for a long time then write their own sun bear theory.
others will graduate and subconsciously take this acquired knowledge
into the workplace. thankful they need to put more seats in the lecture hall.
This poem first appeared in Tupelo Quarterly's 24th issue.