Tea Ceremony

Between a cedar and a willow
A low table of petrified wood
Its roots fastened to the thirsty earth
Its bejeweled surface warmed by the sun’s soft kisses

You fold back the linen cover
Careful not the upset the faint blue patterns
Of dragons playing amid the milky white

From the jewel-box of your bosom
You select a young tea, plucked in early April
Bearing the aroma of salt from the ocean winds

In my ears echo
The sound of waves breaking
And the rocking of the sea

And you, froth on the daydream
Bend over the stone well
Kindle the lime wood fire

Steamy waters, refreshing mist
Open my pores with soothing minerals
While you irrigate the forest floor

Awake, o, latent spice and flavor
Perform your liquid alchemy
And lull me into a hazy, somnambulistic state

Let flow the life-granting dew
In a fine, steady stream
Gentle bubbles to the surface float

Imagining the lips concealed from view
I kiss the tea as I would kiss you
And feel the balm of boiling liquid
Like the caress of your soft palms
On the back of my mouth

Tea sucks me up
Making every artery, every limb
Pulsate, tinge and tingle
Purging and anointing me

Now a darker, stronger brew thrills me
Silencing all the past sniffling of my heart
Creating a beautiful white
Where my mind once was

A soft blanket of quiet swaddles me
And on the forest, a vibrant hush
For we communicate without words

Next I feel a cooler, milder embrace
Slither through me with delicious ease
Its sweetness travels straight to my throbbing breast
Which urges softly for your trust

For I am by love fully infused
Deeply steeped in the waters I drain
As you read in the leaves my fate
And kneel beside me to refill my cup

Lips find their way unguided
Slurping greedily the sweetness of this final cup
In my mind and on my tongue
An exquisite arrangement

The harmony of flavors sings in my body
Kissing away all strife and bitterness
Plunging me into tranquil waves of tea

My cup drifts gently away and I swim to you
My darling, my Darjeeling
With effortless thrusts and strokes
To the rhythm of the singing source