Last December, I wrote a story called The Rhyming Heroes of Antarctica (click here to see). Today, I have rewritten it as a narrative poem: a poem that tells a story. Enjoy!
Fangs of stone across the desert,
Ghosts of majestic towers of ice,
Skeletons of mysterious beasts,
Song of fear riding harsh winds:
‘Antarctica is shrinking,
Ice is melting,
Pillars have fallen
And ice caves forbidden!
God of Snow and Ice,
We are trapped like mice.
Help us! Help us!
This is not marvellous…’
Frightened birds huddled together.
Desperate pleas freeze the air,
Desperate pleas drown a voice:
The emperor penguin attempts to calm.
‘Antarctica may be melting and shrinking,
But an audience with the God of Ice we must be seeking.
To the god, I shall send a team of pluck,
Who will not go cluck.’
Next dawn, the emperor speaks:
‘Pass through Polar Kingdom,
Travel to the South Pole,
Find the Cave of Snow
That the God of Ice calls home.’
The group of five set out.
The oldest, Soap,
Begins a song of hope:
‘We are Mop, Pot, Hope,
Tomato and Soap.
We are skipping like antelope
To the Cave of Snow.
Ho, ho, ho!’
By dusk, they reach the wild
And are captured by sleep.
At sunrise, they wake to
No snow,
No ice,
Only stone,
Only water.
Panic grips the penguins.
Tomato rolls,
Mop cleans,
Pot hides,
Soap flaps,
Hope reminds:
‘Emperor Snow sent a team of pluck,
But look at us:
We are a team of cluck.
Success will be how?
No fear,
And a brave penguin spear!’
Panic ends:
Tomato stops rolling,
Mop stops cleaning,
Pot stops hiding,
Soap stops flapping.
Onwards, through Polar Kingdom,
Penguins march.
Onwards, through spruce forest,
Penguins search…
‘Oh no!
A massive rock
Blocks the Cave of Snow
Like a massive lock!’ sings Soap.
A song of Hope counters:
‘Antarctica may not have tusked elephants
Or charging rhinos,
But she has massive,
Clawing polar beasts!’
Help arrives:
Frozen spiky head fur,
Three sets of long fangs
And many claws.
Help is two polar beast guards and their king.
Out of the cave flies
An icy-blue creature,
Frozen wingtips
And eyes with thin ice shields:
The God of Ice.
A mighty roar
Summons a cold breeze, snow and southern lights
To forge a path in the sky.
Five passengers stare in awe at
Aurora australis’ red, green and purple
Reflecting on the frozen spikes of a flying God of Ice.