Himalayan jaunt

A tapestry of evergreens stands guard.
The sacred mountains rise like sentinels,

peaks emblazoned with swatches of silver,
yawning like portals to the abode of the Gods.

It is all that I imagined it would be and more –
this steady thrum of titanium dust, sifting

from the vault of a purple and patient heaven.
Swathed in wool, my amorphous silhouette

labors like a turtle in the vastness of this void.
What do I know of this terrain – I who belong

to the clamoring ocean, sea glass and silica
kissed into the webs of my mocha feet, face

forever awash in sun. I stop to taste the
softness of stellar dendrites flaking down,

watching the Milky Way ribbon and smudge
across the eastern skies, as new worlds birth

and blossom in this kaleidoscope,
feathering with Himalayan ice.

Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad is an Indian-Australian artist, poet, and pianist. She holds a Masters in English. Her art and poetry have been widely published in both print and online literary journals and anthologies including The Eunoia Review, River and South Review, Tistelblomma, Vita Brevis Press, Bracken Magazine, and Black Bough Poetry. She serves as a chief editor for Authora Australis. Find her @oormilaprahlad and http://www.instagram.com/oormila_paintings