The 99 Poem Challenge (Fox-Trot-9) ✓

29. Fable -- Penguin's Bluff

The 99 Poem Challenge
Fox-Trot-9

29. Fable — Penguin's Bluff

There once was born so long ago
A special bird that you might know.
He could not fly and never walks
Without a waddle 'twixt his socks;
And he wore socks to hide his feet,
Because he thought them not as neat
As noble eagles' taloned claws,
Or ducks' and swans' which had no flaws.
He did not like the way he looked,
All big and fat with plumage plucked
Of all the graceful feathers bright,
Replaced with bristles black and white.
He could not run like ostrich could
But only waddle where he stood.
The birds all laughed because he's fat,
Too big to fly—or walk at that.
"What bird are you?" they all would say;
He did not know and went away.
Undaunted, he began to try
To prove himself, that he could fly;
But try and try as he dared might,
Although he tried all through the night,
He could not jump to reach a foot
Of air without him staying put.
Undaunted still, he tried to run
And ran towards the rising sun;
But try and try with all his strength,
He could not run a yardstick's length.
And so the morning after this,
He thought of what he might have missed.
"Aha!" he said in revelation,
"I simply need a good location,
A place where I will have enough
Of length and height—upon a bluff
Where I shall fly into the sky!
Oh, gravity I will defy!"
Announcing his audacious plan,
He shocked his peers who all began
To plead him not to try his luck,
Lest he be killed when water struck.
Against their pleas, he climbed the bluff
And ran as fast as he could huff;
But then he slipped and (to their horror)
Slid off the bluff, and (to their terror)
He splashed and disappeared below
The crashing waves. "Oh God, oh no!"
The birds all cried, all fearful, grim.
But 'neath the waves, oh, he could swim
With all the grace of flying birds,
Which he could not describe in words.
He swam in depths no bird could reach,
Excelling those upon the beach;
And when—behold!—he went for air,
The birds on land and air were there
To see him, greeting him with all
The cheer they had. He stood so tall
That fateful day and had the bluff
Off which he jumped into the rough
And tumble sea named after him,
The bravest bird that dared to swim.

Moral

If you believe in who you are
And dare to reach the farthest star,
Fear not of failing at you quest;
Because in failing others' test,
You'll find that you will far exceed
The rest in but a single deed.
Keep trying, for in time you'll know
How deep your courage dares to go.

(To be continued...)

A/N: A fable is a story composed in verse or prose with a moral summed up at the end, usually using animals as characters to teach a valuable lesson.

Meter: Iambic tetrameter
Rhyme: aabbccddee...