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Buddha-Pest (in memory of Billy Collins)
Since each day is another nail on our coffins
why worry about old paint?

Even children & fools know
practice makes the Master.

And yes –
Night watchmen sometimes die
in broad daylight.

Since you’ve already passed away
& rest in distant lands,
why waste time in rabbit holes
when you can watch
3D-CG videos on demand?

How many blue tickets to nowhere are needed
to stop the Soviet-Nazi-Habsburg-Tatar-Hun invaders
(and I haven’t even mentioned the Rumanians or Czechs)?

The truth is
there are no witches –
in the labyrinths of Buda Castle.

Alas, in the ruins of Aquincum –
where Szemlőhegy's Cave can be found
the sands of time merely drip, drip, drip…
Carlos: (raising his eyebrows) Billy Collins – wasn't that some British rock star?
Devani: Really? I thought he was some Irish-American lawyer from Waco, Texas . . .
Anya: Whatever. All names get washed away eventually.
Brice: What I want to know is why are the ruins of Buddha Castle are so musty?
Devani: (shaking her head) Milyen buta! That's 'Buda' – not 'Buddha'. And how could any answer be dharmic?