9-20-2025 4:34am

Clare Novak Shares "Too Soft," "Too Hard" & "Just Right" in "Three Bears Dance"

Lesley Misko Editor

Editor’s Note: Area writers were invited to submit poetry and/or prose to Studio B Art Gallery’s summer project “The Three Bears.” Writers were challenged to respond to the meanings of the words “bear” and “bare,” the Bear Fever sculptures or an aspect or theme from the fairy tale “Goldilocks & the Three Bears.” Their poetry and prose responses have been published in The Boyertown Area Expression throughout the summer. We hope you will enjoy the wide-ranging responses to the challenging theme.

by Clare Novak

Fantasy, Too Soft Bare

On a miserably hot day, as I sat cooling my bare feet in the creek, Small Water spoke. Surprised to understand a language I do not speak, I listened.

“Water wants one thing. Big Water will push trees and boulders to get this thing; Great Water will destroy the things of humans to get this thing. Humans think they are stronger than water. They are not. Humans are mostly water but forget it is what they are. Small Water like me, some disrespect.”

I pulled my feet out of the water, wondering if Small Water objected to them. Small water giggled.

“Your feet come. Your feet go, like a fish. This is nothing.” Feeling embarrassed I slipped my feet back into the water. Not sure if Small Water could understand me, I asked, “What can I do to get you what you want?”

“You do it already sometimes. You understand what water wants.”

Thinking for a moment, I said, “Water wants to flow downhill.”

“Yes, Small Water, Big Water, Great Water, all we want, the only thing we want, is to flow. When humans think only of what they want, to stay dry crossing water, they stop us.”

“This I know. I do dig spaces for you to flow again rather than spread behind the rocks looking for a way out. A channel cleared of leaves, branches and stones lets you flow. But I am getting old and cannot clear so many places as I used to. You were here before me and you will remain when I am gone.”

“Tell humans the story of Small Water. Tell them to dig a narrow channel deeper than wide. Then they will have what humans want, to step from one dry place to another and I, Small Water, will have what I want. Tell them what water wants.”

Reality, Too Hard Bear

Answer the phone in the middle of the night. Be instantly alert and snatch words from the incoherent sobs. Hold the words in memory until they make some sense. If they don’t, listen intently and cue the continuing torrent.
Learn to separate the words from croaks and catches. Use a scalpel to ever so carefully tease out this heartbreak real or imagined. Surgeons hands are not enough.

Be a diplomat, high wire artist and therapist. It was the love of her life who left. It was the apartment that burned down with her cats inside. She couldn’t afford her meds. If you slip on the wire, and blurt out the wrong thing claws and fangs will shred your self-possession.
Suggest but never advise and then only if she asks. When she says she’s open beware. Traps and triggers and explosive “NO!s” can randomly follow. NO! is not a mere no but bump stock bullets dipped in venom.
Exact a promise that she won’t do anything until the sun comes up and she finally falls asleep.
Never share close quarters or visit too long. One will wind up dead and the other in jail. Neither of us looks good in orange.
When you converse about your older sister in hospice and she makes it all about her. Step outside and watch the birds in the nesting box. Their simple bond will soothe your soul. Life will tell you that it’s her illness talking.
Keep this within you. Others judge and run through lists of items long ago discarded, non-viable seeds on rocky ground.
Only this person more would cause an overflow.

This list of crosses to bear is how to postpone a sister’s suicide. These are crosses I choose to bear, compared to the alternative, lighter than air.

Just Right Bear

It was my birthday present to myself, a weekend camping trip. With borrowed gear stowed in my Miata and the top down, I headed for Central PA. When I arrived Friday, the campground was mostly empty and I had my pick of spots. Traveling light, it was easy to set up.

Being the first day, I thought to take an easier hike and picked Valley Trail. Silly me. The trail started in the valley and took an immediate turn uphill. Already committed, I continued on and reached the ridgeline. It is a spectacular feeling to see the land fall away on both sides. Walking alone across a mountain top was perfectly peaceful.

Eventually, I noticed that I was walking through acres of huckleberry bushes. The berries were ripe and delicious. Plucking and munching, it occurred to me that I was probably not the only critter who would find them tasty. Prudence dictated making noise to alert bears of my presence and give them time to amble off. Chanting, “Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!” amused me. I briefly considered “No Bears” but remembered the success of people chanting “No Rain” at Woodstock.

With long light on my side, after hiking down the Valley Trail, I hiked up again on the Laurel Trail. A garter snake and I startled one another but nothing untoward occurred. I joked with the vultures that I was tired, but “Not dead, yet.”

The next day’s weather proved that I had chosen the best day to walk the ridge. The morning broke damp and gray. Fortunately, the mist added to the quiet and the beauty of the Creekside hike. Vivid emerald moss clung to rocks and trees creating the green wood of legend.

By Sunday morning, it was clear, steady rain was near. Before it started, I packed up the site and read a bit, waiting for the concession stand to open. My birthday treat awaited. The sign board of ice cream flavors listed teaberry. Teaberry was a childhood favorite flavor. Bubble gum pink, with an indescribable tart berry flavor, it was on the list of best birthday treats ever. Predating the food photo craze, no photographic record exists of my bliss.

* Clare Novak is a multi-creative. She has published numerous articles, primarily business, and published a children's book, "Homely Hero." Clare is also a photographer, focusing on nature, a watercolorist and glass artist. She's well known for picking up all kinds of creative projects, often thinking, "Huh, I wonder how to do that."