Tempest, a poem about tea
October 07, 2021
Today's post is a rerun of a prose poem I wrote some years back.
Tempest
Take trip to Ireland. Read Edna O'Brien. Drink lots of tea. Return home. Think of nothing but tea. Make tea with tea bags. Terrible. Not it. Unable to read Edna O'Brien. Lunch with friend who spent year in Australia drinking tea. Friend says bought teapot after similar tea experience. Friend also recommends English Breakfast. Resolve to purchase teapot. Find two-cup teapot for eight dollars. Bargain. Realize loose tea is key. Milk and sugar cubes, too. Buy loose tea in tin at fancy deli. Have never in life made tea without tea bags. Have never made much tea, period. Cast yearning glance at unresponsive Mr. Coffee. Panic. Australian adventurer unavailable for counsel. Remember not knowing how to bake potatoes. Who knew? Fannie knew. Consult Fannie Farmer Cookbook on tea. Fannie knows. Fannie tells. Love Fannie. Boil fresh water. Warm teapot with boiling water. Pour out. Add big spoon of tea, more water. Strategy involved but do okay. Let pot, tea leaves, water sit. Five minutes later—tea. Breathe sigh of relief. Read Edna O'Brien.
by Susan Thomsen
published in Tea: A Magazine
***
The Poetry Friday roundup for October 8th is at author Irene Latham's blog, Live Your Poem.
Photo by ST. My well-worn copy of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook.
This is a delight! I love that it takes us on your journey with tea (I love a good cup of tea and a book too!).
Posted by: Elisabeth | October 08, 2021 at 02:45 AM
Susan, this is wonderful! "Realize loose tea is key." Once you do realize this, you never go back! Thank you, from a fellow tea lover. :)
Posted by: Irene Latham | October 08, 2021 at 08:15 AM
Thanks for reading, Elisabeth & Irene! Tea + a good book = ❤️❤️❤️
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | October 08, 2021 at 09:06 AM
What fun to write a "learning' tale, & this time you are successful & have a bonus of Edna O'Brien. I love it!
Posted by: Linda Baie | October 08, 2021 at 09:45 AM
This happens to be my oldest and most favorite cookbook! It looks just like yours. I absolutely love this poem. It just made me laugh, all the commotion and complications about making a cup tea. Great! I just love it. Seems a good example of a well written prose poem.
Posted by: janice scully | October 08, 2021 at 10:34 AM
As a tea aficionado, I love this so much!! Great storytelling + humor. Thanks for the tealicious smile today, Susan. :)
P.S. I've never read Edna O'Brien. What is wrong with me?
Posted by: jama | October 08, 2021 at 10:45 AM
Linda, Janice, and Jama, thanks for stopping by for a cuppa and for your kind words. Fanny Farmer has saved my cooking/tea-making more than once. My mom gave me the book way back when, and I'm so glad that I still have it.
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | October 08, 2021 at 02:14 PM
Ah, loose tea. And the pots -- best purchased from thrift stores, because otherwise the whole thing gets out of control monetarily -- and then, sigh of relief. It makes me laugh that with tea you could finally once again properly read an Irish writer!!!
Posted by: tanita | October 08, 2021 at 03:14 PM
Tanita, ha, yeah, we do have several teapots from thrift stores. I even got my son into the habit; he likes green tea best. I think the book I reading was The Country Girls.
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | October 08, 2021 at 03:17 PM
Love! The world is a better place when more people are making tea in a teapot with loose tea! I'd love to sit down for a cuppa with you!
Posted by: Ruth | October 08, 2021 at 09:11 PM
I love this! I have tried re-creating dishes from places I've visited with very limited success. So, this really tickles me. So glad there is success at the end of your poem. Now to find a cup.
Posted by: Linda Mitchell | October 09, 2021 at 06:36 AM
Little did WCW know that so much ACTUALLY depends on loose tea in a thrift store pot!
Thanks for the laugh! Tea drinkers unite!
Posted by: Mary Lee | October 09, 2021 at 06:53 AM
PS -- And the title! For the win!!
Posted by: Mary Lee | October 09, 2021 at 06:54 AM
Your poem is tea-rific! I'm impressed by your abili-teas. ;)
Posted by: Bridget Magee | October 09, 2021 at 08:57 AM
Ruth, yes, if you are near NYC during your next stateside visit, a cuppa for sure!
Linda, I remember being so surprised that Fannie F's directions for tea actually turned out. It's funny looking back at this because I really was nervous about the whole procedure. (And in this case, there is no distance between the speaker of the poem and me!)
Mary Lee, YES a vintage teapot and loose tea!
Hahaha, Bridget. I love the tea puns! Thanks for reading. Have a tea-riffic Saturday.
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | October 09, 2021 at 11:24 AM
Tea is the best drink. Thanks for the prose poem. The comments were interesting, too.
Posted by: Carol Varsalona | October 09, 2021 at 05:20 PM
Carol, since you moved south, are you finding more iced tea? That is another favorite of mine.
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | October 09, 2021 at 05:26 PM
Coming from a long line of committed tea aficionadas, I sipped your tea poem 'Tempest.' with much respect and reverence Susan, I really enjoyed its staccato nature and its circular ending. Through every 'tempest in our family home, the solution was always- 'Lets make a pot of tea and think about what to do...' Well brewed you!
Posted by: Alan j Wright | October 09, 2021 at 08:47 PM
Thanks so much, Alan! There is something so satisfying about a nice pot of tea.
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | October 09, 2021 at 11:05 PM
What a great poem to be published in a magazine called "Tea." How fun! I love tea and have gradually learned to make it in this country where there is British and Indian influence along with the Arab karak tea. Oh my, so many teas, so little time!
Posted by: Denise Krebs | October 11, 2021 at 12:33 PM
That sounds like a tea-riffic place to explore tea, Denise. I am curious about the karak tea. I don't think I've ever had it.
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | October 12, 2021 at 02:08 PM