There are many poems written with an animal as the subject of the poem. These poems usually use the animal in order to address some larger life theme or a connection between the nature of the animal compared to the human condition. Some wonderful examples are D.H. Lawrence’s “Tortoise Gallantry”, “Tortoise Shout”, and my favorite “Snake”. I have recently written two poems with an animal as the subject: “The Frog at Tinker Creek”, and “Bugling” (better known as the elk mating call).

Challenge: Try your hand at writing a poem with an animal as your subject.