COURTSHIP

Black-necked

cranes ride

fast on winter winds,

high above the icy

Himalayan barrier.

On the plateaux of Ladakh

proud ceremonies

of dance occur

brooking no refusal

from the chosen ones;

mincing steps

half-spread wings,

nod, bow, leap,

no motion squandered;

necks extended towards the sky,

their bugle calls, voiced in

synchronicity, create a wall of sound

that stretches

across that

vast arctic desert.