21.

[levity]

Animal Functionsong

Make me a place of peace, and leisure
    spider, beaver, mountainwasp
Teach me pain's more beautiful gesture
    oyster, salmon, eiderduck
Let me survive past Time that bred me
    lemur, tapir, coelacanth
Lead me into the cared-for family
    lioness, dambear, pelican
But if I pray too huge this morning
    buffalo, mountain gorilla, white rhino
Asking one gift too outré
    tusk, milk, civet-musk, panther-silk, ambergris
Thieve me a least sweep scrap of fatback
    packrat, jackdaw, jay


- Albert Goldbarth