Under the cold arctic sea swimming free
the king salmon swims and builds his great strength.
For years he grows free in that arctic sea
until instinct and the strong urge, at length
pull him back to the river of his birth.
There to procreate and happily die.
As things in heaven and here on this earth
have been since time began. So, by and by
he swims against raging currents so strong
and jumps up waterfalls, his red sides glow
and shimmer in the sunlight. Before long
he nears the goal but on the shore a doe
watches. He makes one last leap in the air.
He's caught and eaten by a grizzly bear.