Across the land Antarctica
There troops the line of penguin nuns
In solemn silence, grim,
Stubborn to survive,
To keep themselves and progeny
Alive.
Black seals, piebald dolphins
And the monster Orca
Would gobble down their warmth,
Gulped as snacks and appetizers
To main courses of fish squadrons.
Stolidity is their fate.
Maintain.
At times a glass clear air
Eggs are held
Supports a steel blue sky.
Cold sunlight falls on stony ice
And frigidity like a heavy mallet
Hammers down to crack all hope.
Hissing winds freight-train through
To suck at warmth, throw angry chunks of ice
And herald dead-white fogs, swarms of hail,
Dumps of snow in humps and hummocks,
Dunes of death to overwhelm,
Submerge and enshroud.
Small black posts,
The penguins do not
Yield.
Between their legs.
The group endures.
There will be penguins,
Come Spring.