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.

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.