Hungry Hungry Hippos

hungry hungry hippos,
snapping at scraps,
everyone clawing for the same shrinking marble.

a game so stupid
it should’ve died with childhood
but here we are:
grown bodies with infant appetites.

scarcity in the mind,
panic in the soul,
everyone convinced they’ll starve
if someone else tastes joy.

a black hole with manners,
a plague disguised as playtime.

no thinking, no questioning,
just grab, grab, grab
until the table cracks.

charity as theater,
greed as religion,
a king made of marbles
calling himself chosen.

the rest of us?
hippos gnawing air,
pretending this is normal,
pretending this is winning,
pretending this is living.