Hunza Landscape
On the banks of the Hunza
terraces ladder the mountainsides,
reassuring evidence to the traveler
of human habitation;
of that persistent effort
to tame
to control the willful wild,
to feed off earth’s fertility.
Across a weft of
deep reds, blacks and browns
pale puritan poplars rise
in regiments of rigid supplication.
Theirs is the warp that dominates
the cultivated landscape.
Neat narrow rods of dogma
obscure the inner shapes of
willow, walnut, mulberry and apricot
wrapped in winter meditation.
From above the ancient mountains smile;
they have seen it all before:
pilgrims, traders, armies
passing
religions, markets, conquerors
changing.
They wonder at the intensity
Of short-lived human energy
And fold their glacial fingers,
Content to watch futility
In ageless contemplation.
Islamabad 2001
For context see Alhamra Interview
