Only the sloth knows
he can outrun the jaguar
and out-leap the monkey.
He could strike faster than the snake,
and his cry would drown out the howling wolves,
but he knows no haste,
no desire,
no shame,
no pride,
for the sloth knows
all that ever was
and ever will be,
that nothing will ever change,
and everything is new,
the inevitability of love and death,
the futility of struggle.
The future flows over him,
as he aligns himself
to greet his destiny fulfilled.
His heart, though, is never still,
roaring with silent elation
for your joy and mine
and of those before
and those to come,
wailing a soundless lament
for all our pain.