I learned to make pizza while we were in Budapest. 

Well, I learned to make Hungarian pizza, 

A wildly, wonderfully different beast 

With paprika and yogurt 

And dough so heavy 

It might be a 

Dream.

Our host lived in a hulking building, beautiful in its slight decay,

Cobwebs and marble, an elevator that barely worked. 

Beside me, my muse laughed and chatted 

Politely refusing homemade palinka, 

Heady with the scent of apricot. 

When I envision him, 

It’s often in that 

Moment.

The fantastically familiar colliding with the sparkling, 

The wonderfully, breathlessly beautiful. 

Everything I think I know 

Turned on its head. 

The mundane 

Becoming 

Wildly

New.


Holly Payne-Strange is a novelist, poet and podcast creator. Her writing has been lauded by USA Today, LA weekly and The New York Times. Additionally, she’s given talks on podcast creation at Fordham University and The Player’s Club.  Her  poetry has been published by various groups  including  RedDoor, Door Is A Jar magazine, Call me [Brackets], and Quail Bell Magazine. She would like to thank her wife for all her support. 

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