A Tribute to
the Penguin-Men Among Us
by
Stephen Anderson
who
huddle around watching their young ones
take
to the ice like the wobbly creatures they are
at
outdoor school rinks now lent to these
bundled-up
fathers who shift from side to side
and
huddle together to stay warm like
looming
Emperor Penguins,
while
dutifully standing vigil for their
offspring
who careen wildly but then
glide
like pros for up-to-seconds-at-a-time before
spiraling
into impromptu, shaky pirouettes
that
cause the men to gasp from the sidelines,
then
fake-skate with their shoes
over
to the crash site where they whisper
their
concern and, upon further triage,
encourage
their fallen angels to right their little
skates
on the ice, to again take on the
wintry
reality of the late afternoon,
with
their chins held high to the glory of
the
Penguin-Men in attendance.
~
first published in the New Purlieu Review
