Heart-Shaped Cakes of Budapest Poem by Roland Orcsik

„In Necropolis music blew"
Endre Ady, Moving from Damn-City


The stage burst into flames;
with bitter smoke the fire
wreathed the audience:
the end came as an overture.

From his orchestra
Mahler wrung Wagner:
a cat sneaks through
the heroic romance.

Power ready for action
soon faded away;
Jew in the Opera,
the Parliament blew.

See you in the arena,
rallied Gustav the bunch.
Even the doorman spat after him:
Budapest is a failure.

Instead of a farewell in tears
he makes a cunning exit.
Cheap thrills are useless when
time's hands are around your neck.

He was like the two heart-shaped
cakes in his drawer -
no Hungarian, no Jew.
Origin unknown.

Translated by Zoltán Lengyel