Dear Leviathan - Edit

[dukealien]

Dear Leviathan


Plump hippopotamus demure and cute,
seductively stealth-swimming half-submerged,
whose baby-fat proportions strike us mute -
her winsome smile infects us, caution purged.
We love our hippo, chuckle at her girth,
her rolling clumsiness, her comic ears;
we marvel at her underwater birth,
her teary, piggy eyes that shame our fears.
She trots to catch and crush us though we dote;
her smile hides fangs like scimitars, bone-pale,
with which she hooks us when she flips a boat
and drowns us, river aunt of killer whale.
    Beloved hippo, gross embodiment -
    how like she is to nanny-government!

Plump hippopotamus all round and cute,
seductively stealth-swimming half-submerged,
whose baby-fat proportions strike us mute -
her winsome smile infects us, caution purged.
We love our hippo, chuckle at her girth,
her rolling clumsiness, her comic ears;
we marvel at her underwater birth,
her teary, piggy eyes that shame our fears.
She trots to catch and crush us though we dote;
her smile hides dagger-fangs, bone-red and pale
with which she hooks us when she flips a boat
and drowns us, distant aunt of killer whale.
    Beloved hippo, gross embodiment -
    how like she is to nanny-government!

Since this was started several weeks ago, it can't be called "after" Erthona's "Thoughts for the Fourth of July" (q.v.) but the similarity is striking.