A new tradition

This is a wonderful poem that my uncle whipped up one day after a successful hunting trip. It has been a favorite of mine and shall be read every time I go out to hunt, or so I hope. Maybe I'll just memorize it and sing it to myself when I am all alone, freezing in a treestand or being charged by a bear. This is also the eve of spring bear season, so it is only fitting to have a hunting story in it. So here it is, "The Ballad of Siki".

SIKI
SWEET DADDY SIKI LAY DOWN IN HIS BED
A GARLAND OF ANTLERS SURROUNDING HIS HEAD
THE DOES WERE CONTENTED, THE FAWNS HAD BEEN FED
AND SWEET DADDY SIKI ROLLED OVER AND SAID:
"OH ARNIE MAY HUNT ME AND ROGER MAY TOO,
BUT STIFFEN THEIR MUSCLES IS ALL THAT WILL DO,
YOUNG BRIAN AND RUFUS CAN HUNT ME ALL DAY,
BUT THE ONE THAT I FEAR IS THAT DIRTY OLD RAY.
FOR RAY WILL COME CREEPING, HIS GUN IN HIS HAND
(IT GIVES ME THE SHIVERS, YOU MUST UNDERSTAND)
I SNEAK THRU THE WILLOWS AND BOUND 'CROSS THE LAND
BUT I'M NEVER SECURE FROM THAT DEADLY OLD MAN."
THEN HE SHOOK FROM HIS NIGHTMARE AND MOANED IN HIS SLEEP,
AND RESOLVED THAT HE'D NEVER BE SLAUGHTERED LIKE SHEEP.
HE HOPED THAT OLD RAY WOULD BE SICKENED AND KEEP
HIMSELF FAR AWAY FROM THIS WILLOW BLUFF DEEP.
BUT RAY WAS AT HOME WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE
AS HE THOUGHT OF OLD SIKI, AND ONE OF THESE DAYS
WHEN OL' RAY GETS READY HIS PEERS TO AMAZE.
OLD SWEET DADDY SIKI WILL GO OUT IN A BLAZE.
SWEET DADDY, SWEET DADDY, GOES OUT IN A BLAZE.

THE END OF SWEET SIKI
THE CLOUDS THEY WERE SPLITTING AND WARM WAS THE DAY
AND SIKI WAS DREAMING OF DOES AS HE LAY.
THEN SUDDENLY HE STARTED, AND SWIFTLY HE RAN
UPON HIS LAST JOURNEY, 'TWAS ENDED BY DAN.
WE ALL HAD SLEPT IN SO WE WERE LATE ON THE TRAIL,
BUT RICK GOT A SHOT OFF AT SWEET DADDY'S TAIL.
AND IF THAT OLD BULLET HAD DROPPED AN INCH MORE,
OLD GRANFATHER DEATH WOULD HAVE KNOCKED ON HIS DOOR.
HE LEPT THRU THE MUSKEG AND INTO THE FIELD
WHERE TWO BAD NORWEGIANS WERE WAITING CONCEALED.
THEN DANNY THE MIGHTY, HIS MAUSER DID LIFT
AND SWEET DADDY SIKI FELL DOWN IN A DRIFT.
THE SAGA IS OVER, THE STORY IS TOLD
AND IN DEER VALHALLA SWEET DADDY RUNS BOLD.
BUT DOWN IN THE WILLOW RUN DOWN BY THE LAKE
SWEET DADDY JUNIOR IS PUTTING ON WEIGHT.

Ray Loseth
1984