Be the Penguin
By Fan Ogilvie
I first learned about you in grade school
saw you in books and on TV later in zoos
but never knew you “in person.”
Recently I saw you on my iPhone when
a film crew watched you turn,
leave your fellow penguins as the voice-over says
“not to the east with your crowd, not to the east
where there is food but to the west to the mountains,
where there is no crowd no food”
43 miles of snow then … we don’t know.
The film crew tried to bring you back,
but you wouldn’t stay. You turned around again,
headed for the mountain range. I’m not saying
I know anything about your behavior, but I can say this —
when I’ve had a belly full of our leader’s bullshit
repeated again and again as if it were true,
it behooves many of us to walk away —
turn to our mountains of truth and walk in that direction.
Fan Ogilvie has published four books of poetry and two chapbooks. She facilitates the Cleaveland House poetry workshop, now in its 62nd year. Her fifth book of poetry is due for publication in the spring.
Poets with a connection to Martha’s Vineyard are encouraged to submit poems to m@mwest.com. Please also include a two- to three-sentence bio at the end of your poem.