What’s the purpose of a hippopotamus?
Being much bigger than most the rest of us
For this I can only offer a hefty take-a-guess
About an animal that is mainly a make-a-mess
At least from the standpoint of a dinner table sit-a-guest 
What’s the point of lolling in a swampy river all day? 
Chomping mud and roots, at least a horse eats hay 
Tennis ball eyes bobbing above the water line
Cookie size nostrils that shudder your spine 
Drawbridge mouth opens like a castle gate
Showing ivory teeth like a portcullis grate
You could get lost inside that mouth
If you went for a visit or moved in with your couch
It makes me wonder about a hippopotamus
But I guess they deserve to be just like all the rest of us 
But on the whole I think I’d rather be a rhinoceros