Mountaintop

High above the tormenting turbulence
We reached the Himalayan highs
With stoical pines staring motionless
At the poignant silence all around,
All solemn and deadly still.
Even the restless winds have been
Reined in to an eerie chilly numbness.

We, winding up snake roads from tail
To hood and up to down, thank God
The sun shone bright to remind us that
We still were in the same planet.
Our feeling-awe, astonishment, discomfort
Nervousness- all rolled into a gaping
Mouth and widened eyes and nostrils
Yearning to suck more of the freshness
We may run out of after a week.
(10,000 ft above sea level, 11 Kms before Chail, H.P.)