Tibetan Village Scenes

in the cafe
beneath the photo
of the Dalai Lama

a poster of a 
woman in red
playing pool
drinking Carlsberg

at the stupa
one hundred
thousand prostrations
to the Buddha--
who is keeping count?

after evening meditation
thirteen-year-old monk
takes off his maroon robes

puts on his Nike shorts

walking into a cave
where Padma Sambhava meditated
a thousand years ago

I cut my forehead
on the ceiling
not bowing low enough

these prayer flags
are faded

the words already blown
into the wind

from the corrugated
iron shacks

outside the
Monkey Temple

the sound of refugees
singing

                                               Kathmandu Valley