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I heard the gossip of him
While I was out on the porch sipping lemonade
That my Ma made for me-
But I was only visiting,
And I wasn't nobody's son-
But that's not the point.
The point was that
He was here.

I had seen him before,
Once,
When I had gotten lost in those
Magical woods back home.
I had strayed off the trail
And found myself at a creek,
Parched,
I filled my water bottle.
I had seen him then
Drinking from the creek
And I noticed him,
Scarred.
Across his side, gigantic-
He walked away when he saw me-
The limp in his walk.

He saw me later that day.
From a bear, That stopped by for lunch
(uninvited, of course),
But that's when the Badger saved me.
Wincing as he batted the bear away.
And somehow,
When he was limping away,
I thought he was a man.

I heard
(when I was sipping that delicious lemonade)
That he had come off the mountain
Only days ago.
I left the next morning to look.

Those woods didn't have the magic like home,
These trees were lonely and drained
(maybe that's why the lemonade was good?)
I stayed on the trail
Afraid here, That something scarier than bears would find me.
Days I stayed
Looking for him with no avail.

Until one night, in a stupor,
I saw his shadow within the trees
"Hello Badger Man"
I said,
Walking into the trees.
I never came back.