Penguin Poems

Emperor Penguins

Shuffle-shuffle.

That’s what emperor daddies do all winter long,

huddled in with a flock of other fathers,

each one shuffling with an egg balanced on his feet,

folded in a flap of skin to keep it warm ---

cuddled from the cold.

Shuffle-huddle, shuffle-huddle,

through dark and cruel cold,

through biting blizzards.

They are quiet heroes, waiting

for the peep peep of their hatching chick

and the voice of their mate, returning from the sea.

                By Nicola Davies

                From Song of the Wild: A First Book of Animals

Also about Emperor Penguins:

The Flying Leap

Built

to swim

not too slim

we don’t fly

wouldn’t try

waddle stop

belly-flop, slip

slide toboggan

glide - icy dash ends

with SPLASH! Wings

are fins for twirls and

spins, we plunge

below

pack ice and snow for

fish for krill for squid until

we’ve fished our fill.  Our

young ones will be overjoyed

if we avoid becoming meals

for leopard seals lurking grim

at ice floe’s rim.  We know they’re there

we’re well aware so we prepare:  our feathers trap air.

When we release bubbles our

swimming speed DOUBLES!

We jet from the sea

predator-free

we catch air – wheeeee!

by Leslie Bulion
from Superlative Birds

Diary of a Very Short Winter Day

At the first hint of dawn

I awake with a yawn

And follow my cousins

(All thirty-three dozen)

To the end of the land,

Where we stand and we stand,

Playing who’ll-dive-in-first,

And, fearing the worst,

We listen for seals

Who want us for meals.

I see one penguin lunge,

Then in we all plunge,

Take a bath, gulp a snack,

And climb out in a pack….

Hurry back to our home

For a quick preen and comb

So our feathers aren’t wet

As we watch the sun set.

                By Judy Sierra

                From Antarctic Antics: A Book of Penguin Poems

                Based on the real lives of emperor penguins