Bandaging a Wound

On his first trip from home
the born-again Christian
earnest young man
sets down his unsullied backpack
and takes out his first aid kit
pristine white and red

he kneels to the blistered foot
of the Himalayan innkeeper
who overcharged him
for a sagging bed
dim room
and faded quilt

the innkeeper
wears his weathered skin
and ragged cloak
like the mountains
wear their forests
earth and age
ground into the crevasses

torn out of its sterile covering
the antiseptic bandage
makes a white scar
on the mountain man's wounded
and calloused feet

the traveler feels privileged
to enact Jesus' healing.