He is master of his own household,
A Tibetan family,
A happy house,
Secure and warm.
Everything in its place,
Tomba pots and kitchen pans
Clean and gleaming, neatly stacked.
Water from the mountain stream waits outside in bowls, crystal clear,
pure and fresh and cold.
Aromatic wood smoke pervades the timbered low- ceilinged house,
pots bubbling on the clay wood-fuelled cooker.
The pretty eldest daughter prepares the food, the sturdy mother with a thick long skirt superintends the cooking,
The youngest daughter carries the water and cleans the table.
The middle daughter selects a glass and pours some wine
for her father. This is the unvarying pattern.
The man is master of his house
And he is content.
THE CONTENTED MAN
