The Emperor Penguins of Mars

The Emperor Penguins of Mars by Mary Soon Lee

Keep vigil in the freezing depth
of the Valles Marineris canyons

four miles down, huddled together
in stoic collectivist brotherhood

standing shifts on the group’s edge
then shuffling inward from the cold

millions on millions of miles
from Antarctica’s long-melted ice

beneath the engineering marvel
of the Marineris air shield

transplanted to our new-old world
but valiant as their ancestors

starving themselves to safeguard
the eggs balanced on their feet.

They will swim only shallow waters,
never sight whales, nor wrestle squid

never wonder why we chose them
over eagles or swans or flamingoes

all of us stranded in the cold,
no strength but in each other.

DreamForge Anvil © 2025 DreamForge Press
The Emperor Penguins of Mars © 2025 Mary Soon Lee

Mary Soon Lee

Mary Soon Lee was born and raised in London, but has lived in Pittsburgh for thirty years. She is a Grand Master of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association, and a three-time winner of both the AnLab Readers’ Award and the Rhysling Award. Her latest books are from opposite shores of the poetry ocean: How to Navigate Our Universe, containing how-to astronomy poems, and The Sign of the Dragon, novel-length epic fantasy, winner of the Elgin Award. Website: marysoonlee.com.

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