But If You Were

Mosquitoes on the screen,
Ducks on a little lake
With boats docked around it,

Houses around the shore,
Some cabins, some nearly
Mansions, pines and a gate

At the end of the road,
Ash in surrounding air
From wildfires far and near,

Not too near, yet, but close
Enough to haze morning
A cloudless orange tint,

And you are passing through,
A guest, unlike the bears,
One of whom mauled someone

And made the national
Headlines, not far from here.
No, you are not a bear.