Ladakh

Through a gaping break in the wall, the crackling wind gives a low whistling call.

“Clean and cold in summer we blow; a mystic vision we shall endow.”

Beyond lies a desert cold, a massive massif to behold.

“Cross the daunting mount over ahead, on the rocky bed come tread”

The land beyond is brown and gray. Animals not on this land foray?
“Leave the treacherous pass son, come. To the beauty come succumb.”
Not a lone soul I see, no hut, no patch or a single tree!
“Behind the wall you stand blind, across a miracle you shall find.”

In a heady dream I cross, and let the beauty me engross.

 Snow has the mountains capped. In a slow wind the black tunic flapped.
The land beyond is pristine. Such vast clarity I have never seen.
In the valley a river gleams, scattering light as the sun beams.
Flowers flourish in the valley unplucked. A fresh breath my lungs sucked.

Feeding goats spots a fur-tail. Aghast! Down the hill it flashes past.
Struggling goes down a big mass, silently dragged into a crevasse.
A lone raptor makes a mating crow. The voices across the valley grow.
Another loner comes by in a glance, across the sky they fly, in a mating dance.

With gloves on my clammy hands, I cut across the mountain lands.
Dry smoke comes across to me in wisps; I taste cooked meat on my lips.

I thank them for the mutton they share, and eat it with an amazed stare.
The big landmass I see is the most pious prayer for me.