The Charity Auction

They laugh and bid a thousand for a certain Bordeaux vintage,
and five K for a single day of golf.
It's noted in the building, who's feeding the poor,
those soup kitchen people who look just like us.

Everybody's happy -- tax breaks for all,
why not get a little something on the side,
to help one live at last like a human being?

Who's to say these paddles
up and down like prairie dogs
don't deliver the secret codes,
the number combinations that unlock the cosmic vault,
what some call "empathy"?