Saturday, May 06, 2006

Ursus Verses

Ursus Verses

The Happy Rarity and the Indebted Author

I recently had a job that required a couple of vector drawings of a polar bear. It was a quick turnaround, so I roughed out a handful of bears, and then redrew them in vector. Having finished that, I pinned the roughs to the bulletin board, just so they weren't floating around on my precious, precious flat space. After a few days of walking by these drawings, I got quite attached to the guy shown above, enough so that I felt he was worthy of a post. I think because he's made up of so few lines. Sketches that don't require extensive reworking and erasing are a happy rarity.

But while I'm here, capitalizing on yet another bear, it occurs to me that it's time I gave a little something back to the genus. I've appropriated so much of its culture for my own personal advancement. So here's a poem about bears:

Thing of teeth, and fur, and nose,
Crusted honey between splayed toes.
How deftly you maul that family of ten;
Yet cannot master violin.

For shame.

Hmm. I was hoping that would have turned out more positive. Well... maybe someone else could do better. I invite you to put on your peacock-feathered poet's hat and leave a bear verse...

Comments on this Article

There are currently 33 comments.

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raymond

Ursaiku suite

My first drawing: a
polar bear in a snowstorm.
Simple things make you.

Simply a compass -
seven stars intersecting -
a bear immerges.

Wishing for salmon
spawning, bear tossing a catch.
Fish is his business.

Sometimes play. Many
bears a sleuth, and many sleuths
doth detect foul plays.

Fair. Play. As fair is
foul, and foul fair, I'd rather
be a polar bear.

anders

Adorable! And no, I don't do poetry...I only do first posts :)

anders

FINE - second posts... and I thought I had a chance... :C

raymond

my fave part of the poem
"For shame."
Classic. And the bear looks so benign. A great foil.

raymond

Is the Sheffield Strangler a bonus? or has it simply been hidden away deep in the bowels of this site?

malibu

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
The Bear made you tons of money,
Now give him his DUE!

Russer Butters

Nice bear, Bear.
Sorry, that's all I have. I've killed too many of my brain cells with alcohol and pirate swords.

Limbo

I can't bear. You can't bare. We should

BigA

There once was a bear, large and polar
A seal head jammed in his molar
He growled and he fussed wrestling pangs of disgust
For this poor bear it seems was bipolar.

Cissy Strutt

the string section
sadly decline
the bear's offer
'you can't play the violin' they tell him
'though you would be an
asset
to our orchestra'
the timpanist kindly
gives the bear a cymbal
'bang that' he says
'bang that with your paw'
applause ensues
a happy
compromise

Nikki Noodle

I had a pet polar.
but I lost him one day.
I hollered and called,
I didn't see him at all.
My pet bear went bald
where he used to be white.

He fell lonely and the cost
was all his hair lost.
He melted from sight.
Black skin to twilight.

I lost him forever --
My pet polar,
that night.

Nikki Noodle

P.S. Cute bear sketch :)

Mat

Can we see the vector?

David

Title of the site
leaves a man to wonder this:
this his last photo?

anaglyph

Um. Unless I am mistaken, that bear looks rather like 'The Friend' who used to inhabit the little animated bear space on the old Bearsking Rug homepage.

In which case, his benign manner is misleading...

anaglyph

Oh, and so:

Benign cuddly bear
You fool no-one with your charm
Least of all penguins

bearskinrug

Excellent, everyone - perhaps we'll inspire a bear to write poetry about us. Then we can capture that bear, and tour the world, exploiting his unique literary talent for profit.

Mat - I think I will refrain from showing the vector until I hear how the job turns out - but to give you an idea, the vector is a simple black & white line drawing and doesn't look much different than the rough...

Anaglyph - That's a correct assessment :D He is based off of the pet bear's friend ...

Terry Tolleson

I write a line
or four
about a fine
bear, or

Perhaps it is now five
or twenty,
this dialog's excessive,
but witty.

This rapacious polar
might dine
on members of LER
with wine.

He lives in the cold,
not heat,
near Alaska of old,
how neat.

And he thinks I'd taste
quite nice
with a curry paste
over rice.

Pedro

A modern day William Blake in our midst. Bravo!

Charles

A bear is in our camping site
raiding like a pirate!
Curl into a tiny ball,
that should protect your privates!

kevin

polar bear, oh polar bear,
your coat so soft and white,
with every inch of strength you have,
you squeeze your prey so tight...
until they're dead and you've had your fill..
oh polar bear, polar bear.. if you will,
slaughter me good and dress my flesh
just like a bearskinrug.

wayne

Although they're seldom known to be nomadic —
Preferring the icy plains of their native Arctic,
Where the local color is mostly monochromatic
(An "alabaster desert" to the bardic)—
This specimen I found in a snug Nome attic;
The change of scenery, he said, was quite cathartic:
"No doubt my ursine fellows will find this terrible,
But I�ve always found the cold to be unbearable."

zombiefactory.net

Bare bear,
Wear where?

the Brightside

amidst the ice
a mountain of white
colder than snow
and older still,
the Bear, alone:
a heart of stone
driven by cruel will.

stretched among the floes
with his paw over his nose
black eyes burning
he is hungry.
His coalsmoke gaze
cast out to the waves
there is nothing there
to satisfy the yearning.

in teeth carved to rend
he welcomes your end.
A mouthful of pain and he grows.
Seek him out and learn
if the soul freezes or burns
in the empty hell of the snow.

the Brightside

So it's not perfect, and the rhyme scheme is somewhat off. Also it doesn't quite match the tone of your drawing. But this is what you get for inviting participation at the end of a tired Monday.

bearskinrug

Terry - Well, I fixed your anchorlink for you - you're poem is running smoothly now!

Pedro - Yeah... "Kevin Blake"... I should change my name....

Kevin - Hmmm - I may use this as a tagline. It'd sound good in a Bearskinrug commercial, with a Alec Baldwin VO...

Wayne - Ah! Just who I was waiting to hear from... and you did not disappoint! I feel a woodcut illustration would accompany this baby quite nicely...

Zombiefactory - Wow - that's some excellent minimal poeming...

The Brightside - Haha - no way - I quite enjoyed it :D

monkee

is that rumbling in my tummy?
after all that toast and honey?
my, it's dark here.
... could it be...
that someone's tummy's rumbling me?

Terry Tolleson

Thanks for fixing my link, BSR!

These poems are all just fantastic. We should compile an anthology. An illustration for each! MWAHAHAHAhahahaaa.... anyway

RonaldB

Mary had a little bear
it's coat as white as snow,
and everywhere that Mary went--wait!
Where did Mary go?

I have an picture in my had to accompany this, but since I'm no good at drawing, I'll give you some captions so you get the idea:

"Mary was late to discover that her little bear wasn't so little anymore."

or

"Mary realised that switching from lambs to bears wasn't such a hot career move after all."

RonaldB

My head, not my "had", dammit!

bearskinrug

Haha - I have to say... that one caught me by surprise - very nice!

Erika

I don't have a poem, but I just wanted to comment that I adore that drawing. I would buy a print of it.

bearskinrug

Thanks Erika!

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