Someone Like Me {Poetry}

Himalayas

Daylight.

Cranes fly over the Himalayas,

Higher than any bird that ever fluttered,

Taking in several breaths

With every heartbeat,

Pushing the boundaries of pain.

They sweep their long necks forward,

Spots of rueful blue trembling,

In jet currents fiercely twisting,

Before resting in the rivers below.

Geese that soar past Everest,

Their shadows plunging near

Rocky crevices spangled with ice,

Their haughty shoulders breaking

Through the showers of stars;

And each night a hope they may

Pass through a mountain's channel

Skirting national

Boundaries below.

Wolves with the eyes of the sun

That prowl through frozen plains;

Of slanted mouths and tufted ears,

Waiting to snag feathers from the sky.

Languid monkeys that pluck scarlet flowers

From swaying trees, taste yellow petals,

Stare at leaves dolefully. Late nectar

Fests mitigate the cold snows of autumn.

Honey that is the darkest in the world;

It seeps over granite cliffs,

Encased in pulsating cages,

As millions of golden wings

Flex in unison.

Leopards prowl misty valleys,

Their broad faces resembling tigers'

And hidden by silver manes.

They slink with resourceful tails,

Their paws creeping in the slander of water

Made remorseful in the new rain.

Musk deer elude the brackish pools

Perpetuating the forest,

Their slender legs brushing moist ferns . . .

Their scent coveted by Cleopatra,

Hunted for fragrance alone.

Rowan donkeys whip their tails,

Their fine curls sweeping the dawn,

Their flanks determining the extent

Of the sun touching the land

And how lonesomely antelopes

Blow steam from their muzzles.

Four rivers flow from a crystal peak,

Little slips of Buddhist prayers

Spiraling in the air,

And shafts of bamboo are covered

In rainbow scales, with a small platform -

A mirage of dry voices and humble horns -

A sacrifice to the wind.