The Bear Wakes in Paper

When I wonder how, you tell me:
first pick a colour for a blanket
for a bear just waking from winter.

Think of half an A4 side of card:
turquoise as a cooling pool,
maroon as an ancient shawl,
blue as a bead rolled away.

Fold it in half widthwise.
Before you open it again,
cut lines with scissors from the folded edge.

Open it flat.
Take trimmed strips of patterned paper,
shiny, glittered, plain, bright.
Weave them through the slits,
a patchwork with a quilty effect.

If one strip begins as over,
the next begins as under.
Snip any ends that are too long.
Glue the trimmed edges.

Choose a pattern for a pillow.
Draw around a circle of tape
for the bear’s face on neat brown paper.

Add eyes, an expression,
its chin tucked under the woven blanket,
arms stretching, paws just peeping over,
diagonal stripes of blue pyjamas.

Affix everything
to a sunny yellow background,
the bear yawning awake
into its first full morning of sun.