Feeding Breakfast to a Bear

You could say, I suppose,
we should be thankful.
He ate the stuffed red peppers out of the freezer
The ones that Tom really did not want
To eat more of
And
He left the apple strudel
Which I made last night.
The one that I really did want
To eat more of.

Around 5 a.m. I heard the noise,
Not too loud
But not too quiet
I thought something was in the wall
Because it has been.  A lot.
So I did not wake Tom.

Then Andy started barking,
Summit perked her ears
and Tom woke up.
“Hush Andy,” he said.
“No, there’s an animal.
Can you hear it?”

I usually stay in bed
Sitting up and shaking
When I hear noises in the night,
But this time I stood
and looked over the railing.
It was different somehow
This time.

“It’s inside” I whispered.
There was tinfoil on the floor.
I thought it was the strudel
Which I had left on the counter.

Now we were wide awake.
We shut the dogs in the bedroom
And both stood at the railing.
Tom got dressed.

"Go away bear" he shouted.
There was one last big scruffly noise
And then it was quiet.
I got dressed.

He ventured downstairs.
The dining room window was wide open
With the screen bent and twisted outside.
The refrigerator and freezer were open too.

I turned on the lights
And out on the back deck
Sat the bear
Eating the filling out of the pepper.
(Hmmm.  That’s how I ate it too.)
Black with pinkish ears.

Tom shined a flashlight at him
And off he went
Into the forest
Leaving only a scratch on the sill
And prints on the walls.

We think he will be back again tonight
For round number three.

Can we come stay with you?