A PERSONAL RECONNAISSANCE

From Ladakh

Tibet is just a gaze away.

They said: from that black knoll

at Dumtse, it's Tibet.

For the first time, I saw

my country Tibet.

In a hurried hidden trip,

I was there, at the mound.

I sniffed the soil,

scratched the ground,

listened to the dry wind

and the wild old cranes.

I didn't see the border,

I swear there wasn't anything

different, there.

I didn't know,

if I was there or here.

I didn't know,

I was here or there.

They say the kyangs

come here every winter.

They say the kyangs

go there every summer.

-Tenzin Tsundue