Karma is deprived the driver’s seat
when the engine stalls in the morning chill
we take a substitute car to faux Eagles Nest
where we must wait too long for a meal
he’s glimpsed only once more that day roadside
at cordyceps store where we do get a good deal

Ugyen brings the blessings
in the monastery 
where a couple of hundred
bucks buys lunch for each monk 
I make a faux pas serving meat
to the proto vegetarian

Ugyen brings the blessings
in the morning
we wear travel braids 
for three days fortune
just past the pass we toss old apples
to a lucky langur family

Ngawang fast walks 20 clicks before breakfast
returns in time to guide a stroll of guests
he’s been a monk a soldier
an 8-times snowman trekker
these days chasing the tariffs
to send his 3 girls to school
working for milk toast money

past the peak he pulls away
giving me space to descend the valley alone
there in the flurry of prayer flags
an orange butterfly leads me down