Sagarmatha looms over all
her minions sprawled and giant
strained hands through bed sheets
crawling towards the ceiling
the sky
the endless


tempted
temptress
conquers her foe
we try to claim them
with names and measurements
foolish fucks

the dharma wafting
up and circling
spiritual energy karma reincarnating endlessly waiting climbing encircling
sagarmatha you rule
over them all unassuming
drawn there
died there
left there.

even the song could make me believe
i've been in love with you for years

it floats into my ear and sleeps
and intoxicates me.

small engine little feet sew
the dots on your forehead swim circles
take a stop take a track
your jive; your restless child

open the door let the bees in
we need some air in here darling
i'll cradle i will sing
your intentions never met

in the night walk we walked we talked
here in this moment we stared
the breath the bare breath
and love overtook us

break the bottle with wine on the floor
we tiptoe and whisper
red with blood our hands go white
transparent we transcend
we intertwine.

Kopan Monastery

topographic rice fields
pigeon feathers
sky a milky glare
crimson and saffron
effervescent green
ripening October
pujas and mantras
ever increasing karma
every changing mind
prayer flags and mossy bricks
monks on facebook
ever loyal and protective
monastery mut
a city still being built
ancient and modern
rusted, stained, painted
wall-less interior external
sleeping feet, half lotus
the reincarnation search
a relic, a rosary, a right
the hawk is on the thermals
the library is not open
the laundry is always red
butterfly fight, cockroach creak, spider's spindle
these sentient beings thus
the mandala foretold these
white scarfs we must fold
come with good merit
woven from broken fingers &
hang nails
marigolds and mallas and
spotted pigeons and
hooting monkeys and
whooping monklets and
golden roofs and
fifty-three days.


dark brown, yellow, and green.

The screams in the night

I can see you in the dark
It is autumn now
We stare at each other.

I am the farthest I can be
from home
and from you.

We think these things over
delicate memories that spoil
and mold.

We don't know what we are
anymore
It's gone.

I've touched the night air
and it has sunk into my blood
stream.

It will fester
it will fight
it will stir something dangerous.

From my face
my eyes move
across the sky

Across galaxies
and rice fields
and paths on your arm

Slam heavy on the ground
we are here
away from there.

But I still feel your
aura.
emanating.
from. the. east.
from. the. west.

Nothing

don't talk to me and talk to me more
hurdle the silences and battle consciousness
prick the prickle the pear
stand close talk slow and near
with such solicitude the banter increases
nothing is happening
nothing is happening
the mantra
nothing is happening.

take the ticket waiting
take the place of waiting
wait.

nonsense, nonsense is what you are speaking
don't talk to me
and talk to me more.

Kathmandu

So hot the flies just sit still
The old disabled woman on the side of the road selling cough drops and cigarettes by the stick
disease and remedy and poverty and consumerism
What would you think of us now, ancient ones?
Standing in front of your sacred temples with our magic boxes and tour guides.
Noise pollution, air pollution, no light pollution, only Western pollution.
Here, the clouds are temples in the sky
higher beings floating above the
madness, above the buying and selling and leaving and arriving.
Here they stare and watch and try to listen.
Here we stare and watch and try to listen but will never completely understand why
The cows are in the street
The pigeons are fleeting
The dogs are on the move
The cats are nonexistent
The monkeys steal food.
Everyone is working
and everyone is doing nothing at all.