Dreaming
through the air
in a Gary-Powers glide
over the bruised bully
mother bear
heavy with sobs & songs,
centuries of weary care.
Falling into the brown
forests of her hair
arms flung open,
claws retracted,
greeting with a red
mouth full of teeth
& poems.
1971
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This was written in 1971 after studying the story of Francis Gary Powers, a CIA pilot shot down over
Russia in a U-2 spy plane during the Cold War in 1960. For centuries the brown bear has been the
national symbol of Russia. The poem began as an image of the American pilot on his parachute in
a dream-like state as he drifted closer and closer to Russian soil. The Russian people have a long
tradition of poetry. At the time I wrote this I was reading translations of Yevgeny Yevtushenko
(1932-2017) and Anna Akhmatova.(1889-1966) Last night while watching the movie Bridge of Spies
about the exchange of Powers for a Soviet spy I remembered writing this 50 year old poem.
.