Easy to Empty My Mind Here: A Few Poems from Mongolia
June and July 2011
#1
Flap of felt in wind
Outside, camels close their eyes
Sleep is hard to come.
#2
Morning sun subtle
Dawn breaks without announcement
No trace of night rain.
#3
Shimmery grasses.
Over there, pools of water.
No! Only mirage.
#4
Betsy’s Camel Ride:
Sad! Deflated humps!
Nothing much left to hold!
Old woman’s flat breasts.
#5
Dandelion tufts
Waving from my camel’s neck
Otherwise, naked.
#6
Bright bleached bone trees
Stand forlorn on stacked stone mountains.
Above: bunched sword grass.
Disturbed, geese cry out.
A legion of them
Wing their way between the canyon walls.
#7
Sun dancer camel:
Hide lashed and taut on sturdy poles.
Witness: bone of one leg.
#8
Smoke from the bathhouse.
Water heating for our ablutions.
Smell of desert brush.
#9
Our drying garments
Are prayer flags.
Hung on camel rope:
Boons for our journey.
#10
Near the high dun cliffs,
White butterfly on my leg:
Request: bless my day.
#11
Paws trace moonlit ridge:
Silent Mongolian wolf.
Below, mindful dog guards us.