Paths and pathways, with plumbing & crickets

Tonght's poem is by Gu Cheng, another of the Misty Poets (read poetic, not particularly Maoist)
from China that I heard read in San Jose so long ago. The poem as printed isn't centered on the page,
 but I liked the way it looked centered, and have left it so here.

The Path

you tell me
there is a path
serene and strange
overgrown with free grass

but we have never sought it
never walked it
because we are human
and quite common

the pigeon says:
it connects to a reed pond
the beetle says:
it leads into trees

but I believe
childhood's footprints are there
and etched brick headstones
and crickets' low chirping

from Nameless Flowers; selected poems of Gu Cheng, translated by Aaron Crippen, page 32.


We had the plumber today and he installed great new outdoor faucets, that have a special expansion feature that helps them not to burst in the winter, if you take off the end in autumn. He also replaced the Leaker, our kitchen faucet. Plumbing $eem$ to be a good trade, and, the workman is worthy of his hire, so I didn't feel like I had taken advantage, or was being taken advantage of. He was a very good plumber, Vaughan Carlsen of Top Dog Plumbing, personable, and answered all my questions. I just looked him up to get the link--and found that his wife runs a pet salon!

This little watercolor is called The Purple Path--and I couldn't decide which path to use for tonight's picture--so I an using them both, and breaking my own rule! May all your paths be toward springtime and all your plumbing needs be light. 

Good night!