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
