Sunday November 16
*
A rise into cold afternoon
beneath the open sky
a glimpse up across the space
to the light of my long day
slight gentle patient
beautiful one
And to her then to silently say
to tell of how
I look upon our flag
that rose into the wind
so many months ago
and of prayer flags that fly in another place
put there by the nomads
who live upon high windswept land
with their herds of sheep and yak and lamb
Their home a great and open space
where the wind shrieks through great
piles of rock and rubble
where the land is polished to a sheen
by its endless timeless trouble
and the air grows dark with storms
of enormous tearing whirling
clouds of dust
and snow that robs the eyes
of the sense of time and place
Where on warmest day near ninety
at night does fall
to a few degrees
almost eighty then in all
to freeze solid the water in their pans
collected outside their black yak wool tents
caught from falling snow
a place of many lakes
with salt as in the sea
and some almost as great
Namtso, Serling, and Pang-Gong
thirty, fifty, eighty miles
so far you can travel
day after day
and still not see their end
and great salt swamps
where strange figures rise
amongst the eerie columns of wind molded brine
to mutely tell of an ancient day
when the Tethys Sea pushed up into the sky
From its far east near Amdo
where the Dalai Lama was born
to the west at Lake Pang Gong
this immense and noble austere place
extends eight hundred miles
the plateau of Chang Tang
And on this land they make their way
in harmony with the elements
a careful timeless humble dance
of wisdom in survival
with warmth and compassion
for all beings in the midst
of desolation
Lotus blossoms rest
upon the window sill
and so we wait
two as one
we our effort
real and lasting
slight gentle
beautiful one
November 13
* courtesy of A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions.