Long past forgotten,
deep in the forest,
lay a gift to be gotten
by a young boy named Horace.

His father had sent it
so many years ago,
but the mailman dropped it
to sleep in the snow.

Then some birds picked it up
and flew squawkingly south,
until they were fed up
and dropped it from their mouths.

It fell with a thud
on the narrow dirt street,
and was pushed through the mud
by an antelope's feet.

The package fell off
to the side of the road,
and was bumped by a sloth,
down the hill it did roll.

It rolled and it tumbled,
then fell into a yard,
but an elephant stumbled
and kicked it quite hard.

It flew through the air
and landed in a tree,
but was snatched by a bear
who had shaken it free.

The bear stomped through the foliage,
a blur of green, brown, and red,
and set down the package
as a pillow for her bed.

But the bear heard a splash,
the salmon were here,
she was off in a flash
to secure her next meal.

The bear never came back
and the package just lay
on the top of the stack
for the rest of the day.

Now Horace is withered,
his father is gone,
but the package still sits there,
awaiting the dawn.