“There was this bear cam”

There was this bear cam

on the Internet. It was pointed at a place

called Katmai National Park, Alaska. A few years ago

my friend sent me a link to it.

I would watch it sometimes

but I never saw any bears.

Maybe it was bad luck

because my friend said she saw bears.

All I ever saw was the enormous river rushing

and the tall pines in the background doing nothing.

I mean, that was OK, of course.

I loved the sound of the river

and wind in trees and the sheer thrill

that such a sublime nothingness

could be witnessed like this.

But I wanted to see a bear.

It seemed even more thrilling to be typing

in a cubicle and suddenly out of nowhere

there’s a bear on your screen

that maybe 50 other people in the world catch

a glimpse of. Maybe they are on a break from Facebook

or filling out a spreadsheet and BOOM, a bear.

So I thought while I was writing this

that I would just check the bear cam online

and sure enough a fat bear is in the middle of the river

eating a salmon right there in the Katmai National Park.

I get up from my desk and tell my colleagues

“You guys, come here!” and my colleagues

come in my office but by the time they run in

the bear crosses the river, or pixelated

screen or whatever, salmon in his jaws

and the only thing there is the river

and trees and they say,

“Sandra, this is boring,” and walk

back to their own offices.