When the townspeople

gave the teenaged Buddha

a glass of wine

so delicious he grew

to an unthinkable size

and froze into a blue statue

that shielded the town

from a wave that broke

upon his back

and would have swept away

the town if he’d not tasted

the wine and afterward the people

were overjoyed and said

they would do good deeds

like carpool their children to school

more often and plant lettuce

everywhere while the Buddha

melted into water and receded

into the calm sane sea.