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I have a picture of my brother
on the North Slope holding a cub in his arms
while the mother
darted with a tranquilizer
was tagged for conservation purposes
when she stirred
she began to shake
like the polar bear
in the two-minute YouTube video
just Google
“polar bear shaking trauma”
my brother
put the cub down ran to the helicopter
and from the sky they watched her big bear on the run
in my dream last night I thought
I might never stop shaking
everything is burning
Polar Bear Heat
Kristy Snedden is a trauma psychotherapist. She began writing poetry to connect with others. Her poetry has been published nationally and internationally in on-line and print journals and anthologies, most recently in Contemporary Verse 2. She loves hiking and listening to her husband and dogs tell tall tales.