The rain swollen stream quickly turned to a torrent
of muddy brown water and foam
A pair of tan Cougars clung to a log
carried down river from their high home
The Rockies are beautiful, tall and serene
A paradise high in the sky
But in just a few moments the mountains turn mean
Fate determines if you live or die
As the stream grew and rumbled through canyon and gorge
the pair struggled hard to survive
It became a wild river and still rumbled on
The water itself seemed alive
At a bend in a canyon, with boulders like bones
The log struck a sharp sandstone rock
The log cracked and splintered, destroyed by the hit
The canyon walls echoed the shock
With a scream and a growl the Cougars both flew
Tossed like leaves in a dust devil’s grip
The female cat crashed to the near sandy shore
On the rocks her mate could find no grip
Their eyes locked just briefly as the boiling waves won
And the Cougar slipped quickly from sight
The female just sat in the sand for a while
And then howled out, from sadness not fright
After a time spent on wet river sand
She slowly turned back to the trees
and began the long climb to their high mountain home
Wet and cold but alive and still free
In that canyon today when the water runs high
Some say if you think of that pair
The canyon walls echo with a Cougar’s shrill cry
Though no cat can be found anywhere
In the mountains the struggle continues each day
With the storms and the fires and the strife
And the outcome’s not certain, like that day long ago
One lived
One died
That’s life
