birthing Buddha,
distant looming mountains
breed wisdom

glassy lake,
mirroring boat hulls,
a world below?

standing aside
as beam-totting porters
pass us on the trail

tea-house quarters
cozy and quaint lodging,
’til snoring starts

cool air in face,
trudging up — oblivious
to cloud-freed snowcap

glacier gone,
scoured trench, gouged in earth —
maybe next year

monkey overlook,
from sacred stupa to
the human warren