Penguin on the Beach
Ruth Miller
By Adrian Mackenzie
Stranger in his own element,
Sea-casualty, the castaway manikin
Waddles in his tailored coat-tails. Oil
Has spread a deep commercial stain
Over his downy shirt front. Sleazy, grey,
It clogs the sleekness. Far too well
He must recall the past, to be so cautious:
Watch him step into the waves. He shudders
Under the froth; slides, slips, on the wet sand,
Escaping to dryness, dearth, in a white cascade,
An involuntary shouldering off of gleam.
Hands push him back into the sea. He stands
In pained and silent expostulation.
Once he knew a sunlit, leaping smoothness,
But close with his head’s small knoll, and dark,
He retains the image: Oil on sea,
Green slicks, black lassoos of sludge
Sleeving the breakers in a stain-spread scarf.
He shudders now from the clean flinching wave,
Turns and plods back up the yellow sand,
Ineffably wary, triumphantly sad.
He is immensely wise: he trusts nobody. His senses
Are clogged with experience. He eats
Fish from the Saviour’s hands, and it tastes black.
, Mood:
➔ Somber & melancholic (from dejection)
Structure:
➔ Enjambment and slowed rhythm
Rhythm:
➔ Sowed by punctuation to convey penguin’s ongoing dejection.
Enjambment:
➔ Enhances the continued distress of the penguin. His plight has
physically ended but not mentally.
Tone:
➔ Critical (of humans) & melancholic
By Adrian Mackenzie
Ruth Miller
By Adrian Mackenzie
Stranger in his own element,
Sea-casualty, the castaway manikin
Waddles in his tailored coat-tails. Oil
Has spread a deep commercial stain
Over his downy shirt front. Sleazy, grey,
It clogs the sleekness. Far too well
He must recall the past, to be so cautious:
Watch him step into the waves. He shudders
Under the froth; slides, slips, on the wet sand,
Escaping to dryness, dearth, in a white cascade,
An involuntary shouldering off of gleam.
Hands push him back into the sea. He stands
In pained and silent expostulation.
Once he knew a sunlit, leaping smoothness,
But close with his head’s small knoll, and dark,
He retains the image: Oil on sea,
Green slicks, black lassoos of sludge
Sleeving the breakers in a stain-spread scarf.
He shudders now from the clean flinching wave,
Turns and plods back up the yellow sand,
Ineffably wary, triumphantly sad.
He is immensely wise: he trusts nobody. His senses
Are clogged with experience. He eats
Fish from the Saviour’s hands, and it tastes black.
, Mood:
➔ Somber & melancholic (from dejection)
Structure:
➔ Enjambment and slowed rhythm
Rhythm:
➔ Sowed by punctuation to convey penguin’s ongoing dejection.
Enjambment:
➔ Enhances the continued distress of the penguin. His plight has
physically ended but not mentally.
Tone:
➔ Critical (of humans) & melancholic
By Adrian Mackenzie
