The Wisdom of a Teacup
What does a teacup know?
One fine dress is all you need.
Waiting gives you time to dream.
You are your best company.
What does a teacup know?
A steaming cup draws people in,
slows down time, and warms a chill.
Those well-loved bear a well-loved chip.
I’ve been enjoying this month’s celebration at Michelle Heidenrich Barnes’ Today’s Little Ditty. Each month Michelle invites a poet to give the rest of the poetry-writing community a challenge. In early January Joyce Sidman invited the writing of “deeper wisdom” poems, modeled after her beautiful example, “What Do the Trees Know?” Many writers have already accepted the challenge and written wonderfully about snow, wind, seeds, stars, even hens.
I thought I’d give it a try too, but I wanted to go in a different direction and explore something less grand and less natural. Perhaps because I spend the winter holding one, I went with teacup. I’m not that happy with the outcome (I’m ambivalent about the slant rhymes and the meter of the last line and the general level of abstraction.) but I did find myself saying to my daughter, “I know that because I’m a teacup,” which we both found absurdly hilarious. So, in honor of this poem, I’d like to propose a teacup toast to all those poems that don’t work out quite as well as we hoped they would.
For more Poetry Friday wisdom, visit Tara at A Teaching Life.
Look what’s in my saucer! These belonged to my husband’s grandmother. Aren’t they wonderful?
