~ la 1 Alphabet Book ~ June 19, 2009

Flowing words

Written on the paper

Shows the feelings

We keep held in

Letting them out

Released into the world

Genres to write

Sestina, Tritina

You choose the format

The way you write

The words you use

You pick it all

Totally unique and your own

It’s your poem.

Moody Shades

Mysterious shades set your mind to a certain mood

Spirituality and royalty shine threw the dark twists

Hot red and cool blue mixed together

To form the lavender, orchid, lilac and violet scents

Boost to your imagination and creativity

To form a new mood

Cleopatra’s favorite color, but it’s more than that

She showed her royalty wearing an enchanting robe

Light shades showing delicacy and romance

Many names describe its elegance

Violet, plum, lavender, magenta

All meaning the same color

The same shade

Purple
Soldier

Purple Heart

Describes his wounds

The ones he got fighting in the terrible war

Given to any person

No matter what race

Or how serious the pain, the broken bones

The lives the war took

Awarded this metal

A Purple Heart

Describing what he would do for our country

The idea first made by General George Washington

And in the future the reward for his courage

Will still be the Purple Heart

Forever and always

Did you know that all penguins live below the equator? Well, they do! In fact, penguins were first discovered in Southern Africa by European explorers almost 40 million years ago. Most people wonder how penguins got their name. The name “Penguin” originated from 2 Welsh words, meaning white head because as we all know penguins are black, sometimes yellow and have white heads. There are many living species of penguins, but also a lot of extinct species. In fact, there are over 32 known extinct species, but there could be more we don’t know about yet. As for living species there are only 17 or 18, much less the amount of extinct species.

The lifestyle of penguins is pretty simple. They spend 75% of their time in the water hunting for food like fish, krill, octopus and squid. Penguins live in large colonies called rookeries. Unlike most birds, penguins do not fly, at least not in the sky. However, penguins do fly threw water at speeds up to 15 mph. They do this by using their wings or flippers to fly underwater. Also, penguins are not afraid of humans, which is unusual considering their habitat.

Like most animals, penguins mate for life. As for baby penguins the mother only lays 1 or 2 eggs at a time. Parents feed their “chicks” and incubate, or keep them warm. When the chicks are born they have very soft light or dark grey feathers that keep them warm, but do no protect against water. So, as a baby they cannot go swimming or hunting. Penguins only live to be up to 15-20 years old, but for them, that could be a very long life. Most penguins don’t make it through their first year of life and die right after birth. Once the penguins get older and grow. They gain blubber for heat and waterproof feathers to swim and hunt in the southern water.

Penguin’s lives could be in danger because of the threats we, humans pose to them like oil spills, global warming, pesticides and construction. If we keep doing these harmful things, soon there might be even more extinct species and not as many live species. Predators like sharks, leopard seals, sea lions and killer whales, also pose a threat to penguins. Their bones are solid and heavy, to help protect them from some of these dangers. Penguins are very social animals and can adapt to different climates. To communicate they use body language and vocalizations.