Where men trod, they trespass and destroy.
***********

Toze Kangri, China
Sandra S. Corona

Tenacity is easier when one has no choice.
Rickshas, heavy-laden, furrow in virgin snow,
sun feathers through reefs of clouds, a finch chirps gaily.
One voice
I know
comes daily.
Snow-blanketed pink hills, brushed with nature's slanted rays,
lead to long bands of purple, green, yellow and red haze ...
a high altitude circumhorizontal rainbow.
From Him
I know
it's hue and glow.
Yak, Kiang, brown bear, sheep, gazelle, chiru--wildlife--
abundantly thrive in areas where men don't dwell.
A dark curtain, squall, waltzes across the steppe, hard rain.
One voice
sweet, slow,
a cold, slick, pane.
Crab-crawling--tired, besat by fatigue. We seek, find
calving grounds of the nutritionally adaptive
chiru. Thirteen thousand years ago this land was lush
but now
I know
... it isn't such.