“WHY SHOULD YOU BE HAPPY?”

The world
Doesn’t

Owe you
Happiness

Just as
The world

Doesn’t owe
The hippo happiness

— David Romanda’s work has appeared in places such as Gargoyle Magazine, The Louisville Review, The Main Street Rag, PANK, and Puerto del Sol. His book is “the broken bird feeder” (Trouble Department, 2022). He lives in Kawasaki City, Japan.