Monday Poetry Stretch - Animal Poems

In The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises From Poets Who Teach, Deborah Digges suggests the following writing activity.

Write a poem in which an animal figures prominently. As you decide on your subject, consider an animal that fascinates, even confuses you, one that incites in you wonder, perhaps even fear. Brainstorm a bit, taking quick notes on any particular experiences you've had or heard about in relationship to that animal. Reread stories, fairy tales, biology texts, in which your animal appears. Go look at it if you can, or study its features in a book. You might also trace the etymology of its name to discover new facts and information that might trigger your imagination.

I wrote a lot of poems about animals for my students when I was teaching middle school. I still like to write poems about them. Here's one I wrote about bats.

Chiroptera
Nocturnal navigator
aerial magician
drop!
and flip
stall!
and grab
erratic flights of fancy

Not feathered
friend
but
mammal
on the wing

This is a topic about which much can be written. So, that's it. Your challenge is to write a poem about an animal. Leave me a note about your work and I'll post the results here later this week. Have fun!