Ralph Seligman-Courtois was inspired by Hibernation and Other Poems by Bear Bards to contribute the following bear limericks, which he read at the Bear Bards reading during the Saints + Sinners literary festival in New Orleans in May 2014:
Hibernation, front cover
One day the cops stopped a gay bear.
They said it was because he was bare.
The bear said: “Not true!”
“And I’ll prove it to you”
“For I’m totally covered in hair!”
A sleuth is a gathering of bears,Where they settle all their affairs.
They discuss how they feel,
And prepare a grand meal.
And decide to combine various lairs.
A bear can be rough as can be,
Full of brawn and muscle is he.
His fur may be stinky,
But he still lifts his pinky,
while sipping his oolong tea.
Just ‘cause a bear is hirsute,
You shouldn’t think him a brute.
He might be as smitten,
By a sweet furry kitten,
As hearing a concert of flute.
