The Big Journey

I lived in a lake,
I will now swim up the stream.
Tomorrow I hope I will wake,
and hopefully fulfill my lifelong dream.
I worked hard to survive until today,
living in an area grizzly bears love to play.
Many of my good friends have come and gone,
the time to fulfill there lifelong purpose is not that very long.
We all try to live, share, and play from day to day,
even though some of us cant live very long anyway.

As I swim up the stream with such terrific force,
I can see some of my friends get eaten by bears with great remorse.
there is not much I can do, or much I can say,
I don't think it would matter if I helped them anyway.
We all have to die someday it is a natural rule,
to deny mortality after spawning would make you a fool!

It is early in the morning through the break of dawn,
that I get ready to fulfill my destiny-to finally spawn.
As I finally make it with all of my power and strength,
I gently swim through the lake to find the right partner and mate.
After we are all done with the race,
we all spontaneously float up from all over the place.
There is a salmon here, a salmon there, we are now dying everywhere.

Although it may look as though we are in pain,
In return there is much to gain.
millions of baby salmon will awake soon from their nests,
to feed and grow in the lakes and streams in Alaska we all loved best!

-Anita Brett