Spawn

Abandoned by his brethren downstream,
a lonely salmon searches for his shoal.
He's driven by an elemental theme,
an overriding, fundamental goal,
but somehow chose a different tributary,
so now he swims alone against the odds.
How potent his resolve, extraordinary --
he's earned the admiration of his gods,
who let him get much higher than the others.
With rapid after rapid left behind,
no sign, though, of his sisters or his brothers.
Denied his chance to mate with his own kind,
exhausted, and the pain too much to bear,
he's rescued from his struggle, by the bear.