Stay Hungry

I started as a whisper of a promise in the ear of a man

I promised I'd make him the richest man in the world

I was transformed from air and sound to a snake coiled around his neck so we could speak direct

I told him I would trade death for money

He took a rock and cracked his first skull for me

I told him that one life wasn't nearly enough

He set a factory building ablaze and delivered me dozens of their smoke lungs.

I ate his sacrifice and gave him the first taste of the riches to come.

I transformed again, to the form of men, So I could stand next to him

We filled our days by setting more and more factories ablaze

As he heard the screams, I pushed away his nightmares by telling him to remember the dream

We left death and scorched Earth in our wake until we looked under the ash and realized there was something to take.

So we burned the ground until we found treasure around, and the Earth began to shake

Soon, others the man didn't see saw his wealth and wanted way more than him, so they came to me

I had many suitors lining up, but one stood out from the rest

She was willing to do everything we had done before, and so much more

I grew tall, my skin turned red, and I went from two to four legs, fur and claws, ferocious teeth, and a larger jaw.

I tore the man limb from limb, taking all his money from him

I gave her all that he had

She saw that if I got too hungry I could eat anything so she kept me well fed

She went to hospitals and gave me the brains of the sick

She went to schools and gave me the blank eyes of the children

She traveled to warzones and gathered up bits and pieces for me to eat

She left my side because she didn't need to deliver the deaths, the brains, the eyes, the bits started to deliver themself

Many men tried to take a gun to me, but they never hit because there was always somebody to jump in front of me.

All she had to do was raze the ocean and trees, and her wealth grew exponentially with ease.

Eventually, there were no more battles to be won

No more death to be done

No more people to mourn

no more bridges to burn

She got all the money in the world, she finally won

That's when she noticed the entire world was on fire, and there was nowhere to run

The flames caught her fast and burned through her and her money, reducing them to ash.

And with nobody near me, I was transformed back into darkness until somebody hears me.