Picasso penguin poem

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Tanita at fiction, instead of lies for Roundup.

I'm away from my desk this week, but I do have for you the latest in my ArtSpeak: Animals Picasso mini-series. 

This week, a penguin! Picasso's penguin reminds me of the Penguin Books (one of my publishers!) logo, which is pretty basic:

...and it makes me think of the book Mr. Popper's Penguins, which I love. 

And who can forget the penguin dance in Mary Poppins? (Makes me smile every time!)

And...it's not my first time to tackle penguins. WHEN THE SUN SHINES ON ANTARCTICA (Lerner, 2016), with illus. by Anna Wadham, features nature poems about four kinds of penguins who nest on the frozen continent: Adelie, gentoo, Emperor, and chinstrap penguins...for which I was able to cover penguin courtship, nesting, fledgling, and play time!

Other have found inspiration in penguins, too. Pablo Neruda in his poem "Magellanic Penguin" includes this stanza:

Penguin, static traveler,
deliberate priest of the cold,
I salute your vertical salt
and envy your plumed pride.

read the complete poem here.

Finally, here's today's effort. Thank you so much for reading!

penguin surveys waves

only one leap between ice

and deepwater flight

- Irene Latham