Still Point Sipping
A previous posting about a tea poem by Robert Finch focused on the accoutrements. This poem, a tour of a tea merchant's shop, derives some of its verve and energy from an enumeration of types: Ling Ching, Chunmee, Pi Lo Chun, Bai Mu Dan pearls. The latter give the poem its arresting final image:
Bai Mu Dan pearls"Tea Merchant" in Red Lacquered Chopsticks by Betty Warrington-Kearsley.
from this Spring's first-snow pickings,
fingertip-rolled round petals of jasmine
slowly unfurl, greening
his kettle of clear well water,
each sip unhinging
in that first, stilling cup of tea.
And so for day 1951
16.04.2012
