Land of Snows

Tibet in Tibetan, is Pö-la: “where there is snow”

In the land of snows we travel by bus
nothing to do but watch mountains and clouds
feel the cold but not so often
clouds and mountains take all our attention
even if we can’t look at them for long
mountains big and dark bushy with snow
go curly at the edges and drift away
clouds grow as we approach but never enter
they have good roads to take us over them
it’s usually flat and empty there
good grazing in summer
abandoned right now
so flocks of mountains and clouds drift down
around the rims to crop the last dry stalks
remark another busload of those whities
heading for the border like it’s somewhere to go
crossing our map of stone and ice in black and white
we give them forever millions
of tiny falling frozen lights.

Span Hanna is a former South Australian who has been living in Victoria since 2001. He is the editor of an English-language fortnightly (Modern Asian), provided free to the Asian community in Victoria. He worked as a schoolteacher for more than 20 years, and lived in China for four years.

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.