Nard refers to spikenard,
A flowering plant which grows richly abundant
In the Himalayas,
And is used by indigenous sherpas to garland
Mountain goats during high-altitude weddings,
Where the air is naturally heady,
So there is no need for wine;
And as corsages when they go to prom,
But its only color floats at the top of a reedy
Stem, like a spattering of bruised stars,
And even that is far beneath the
Black-faced cadavers who are forever grinning
Like presumptive way posts jewelling the
Weather around her bare shoulders;
Mummified, they remain there for eons, even
As other, more permanent artifices erode;
They too float like abused heavens around her
Subtle neck laced with climbing ropes,
And studded carabiners;
For, just as the names of flowering plants may
Belong to wayward poets, so too do these men
Belong to her coarse natures, and they whisper
Her name to the other trespassers,
Those whose fate she may pick and choose:
The Mother Goddess, Mount Everest,
Chomolunga,
While the spikenard suffers through the lacing
Drizzle, shivering outside the monasteries where the
Fires leap to the monks polyglottal chanting;
As from the tent poles, the prayer flags ripple,
And the soundless monuments rest in their wetted stone.
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