The Penguin And Egg Poem by Harley White

The emperor penguin's a noble bird
that treks over icy lands
to care for one chick in its haunt preferred
of freezing Antarctic strands.

The mother will first a single egg lay
which father must incubate
in a brood pouch atop his feet and stay
till arrival of his mate

who has gone away in desperate need,
exhausted by her ordeal
of hunger extreme, to finally feed
and then return with a meal

for the offspring newborn which is huddled
‘mongst other birds in the group
of the parents and chicks they have cuddled
to finish their cyclic loop.

Though flightless that peerless species may be,
high in the heavens it seems
a penguin with egg beneath floating free
drifts into stargazers' dreams

protectively guarding this precious heir,
like with the emperor breed,
midst the constellation of Hydra's lair
in stunning supernal deed.

The scenario clearly deceptive
comes from a galaxy pair,
as seen by astro-watchers perceptive,
in interaction they share.

The duo's been labeled ARP one four two
with bird a spiral made flat
in profile that's hovering in the view
over egg the mom begat

in dyad the galaxy elliptic—
their orbits getting scrambled
through gravity's tidal pulling cryptic
because too close they rambled.

It's the stellar grouped egg in the twosome
that ripped the other to shreds,
in a violent manner quite gruesome
of streaming filament threads.

Yet the penguin formation dramatic
is giving birth to stars new
displayed by Hubble's color emphatic
with tendrils of brilliant blue.

What was once the center looks like an eye
of the bird, with veins dark red
in gas and dust byways that ran awry,
when flung from galaxy's spread.

The emperor egg is a pale green-white
as with oval NGC
whose deeper shade greenish of astral light
shows the stars older to be.

Three hundred twenty-six million light-years
away is where the pair lies,
catalogued by Arp for how it appears
weird shaped, or did to his eyes.

If one wishes to call it the ‘Porpoise',
our ‘Celestial Bird', to wit,
which resembles moreover that corpus,
both nicknames will it befit.

Yet for these verses the penguin prevailed,
partnered in image with spawn,
as creature by ceaseless perils assailed,
where inspiration was drawn.

Those marvelous beings endurance teach
for mortals dwelling on earth,
who would seek to fathom the cosmic reach
while slighting our planet's worth

as well as fauna of terra and seas
like with land-awkward great auk,
made extinct by mankind's slaughterous sprees,
since it was easy to stalk.

Here on our sphere countless wonders abound.
With wisdom's vision of sense,
let us help Mother Nature hold her ground
and come to our world's defense.

We gaze at the galaxies far above
like penguin and egg portrayed
that paints a picture iconic of love,
yet ultimately will fade…

For in time through merger the twain shall meet
in a billion years or so.
Will there still then be sagas bittersweet
told of other joy and woe?

And somewhere in depths of the cosmos vast
will poets still lyricize,
when pale blue dot's days are ended at last
as home in the starry skies?