Buddha Boxer

poem by Ken Holmes, Winter Solstice 2010

She's a buddha boxer
Million-dollar baby
Sweating in the dharma gym
Pumping prostrations
Heroically Nyungnaying
Clocking up mantras
Ready for the big match
No holds barred, head-on
Life or death battle with ego.

It was only in the twenty-fifth round
Exhausted by her own
Excessive fancy footwork
That she realised the ring was empty.

Knock-out!