The Puffin

 

Some say

he's too silly to be true,

but the Puffin,

smiling like a Toucan,

replies,

"Who are you?"

 

I think he is 

a tourist, confused,

whose wrong flight  

flew him into Arctic exile.

Don't be fooled.

The Puffin is a dogged one,

a tough little trooper,

racing Dark Lords of the sky,

dodging Snipers of the Deep

for a beak full of

sprat, capelin,

herring, or cod,

flapping madly

to Olympian heights

on stunted seaplane wings

to sustain his family

without complaint.

Only then, as they sleep,

will he dream of

Ithaca’s distant shores