Formidable, with Bells on

Diana Hartog has a gate
That’s meant to deter bears.
It bristles nails and spikes,
And it sits in the woods and waits.

A bear is such an idiot,
As greedy as a man,
As hungry for heaven.
It hears the gate’s bells calling it.

The universal history
Of life is lack and loss
Whose bells lack for nothing.
Life’s need is life’s spiked mystery.
Life’s need is life’s true mystery.
The need’s the only mystery.