The bear

I read of a saint who, worn from long years

Of performing wonders, retired to the wilderness

Where he found a cave. A bear lived there too

But saints fear nothing. Missing him

The saint’s friends combed the wilderness,

Finding him at last. Their journey was hard;

They arrived footsore, wounded and in rags. 

The saint snarled at them from deep in his cave

Fortunately the bear greeted them warmly 

And, at his word, their wounds were healed.