THREE TOED SLOTH
(Preguica-de-coleira)
(For Haley in South Africa)
Solitary creatures, alone they prefer to be,
Slow moving hanging upside down from a tree,
Munching merrily on young twig and leaf,
Likes to move slowly at night like a thief.
At least fifteen hours at a time they rest,
And when they do move to see them that’s the test.
It could take them there whole waking time
along one long branch to try and climb.
In South America where the cecropia tree grows
That is where you will see the sloth with three toes,
All furry with big, cute, night seeing bright eyes,
Swaying slowly up high, for on the ground he can’t go,
But drop him in the water, then see him go.
Only one baby is born come the spring,
And with their trees fading, a cruel thing,
The sloth weighs not much more than our large cat
Over ten pounds they would be called fat.
We may soon not have the three toed sloth quite small,
For through thoughtlessness into extinction may fall.
And though it’s slow it has a right to go on living
And should, if man would take less and be more giving.

(Millicent) Ann Margetson August 11, 2003