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| old teapots never die, they slip away to the V & A |
A Teapot is a Palace
A teapot is a palace where djinns and angels dwell
where wings of chamelia sinensis charm
the feathers out of ladies’ hats:
in sunny parlours the polished silver
beeswaxed wood and worn upholstery
(antimacassared for the Vicar)
gather round to pay respects at 3 o’clock
on Tuesdays
Smoke-filled dens of mahjongg tiles
where jade men with heavy bets watch
steam rising over eggshell cups
while fortunes and lives are lost and won
on gaming Tuesdays
Tuan tuan squat on their heels
before turning west to pray
taking their muddy teh tarikh –
tea pulled through time like the
laterite Selangor roads to
Tuesday afternoon
Corduroy hills have aching backs
bend, pluck, toss and heave
bend again in endless row
No angels these who taste the crop
each Tuesday with their pay
But still, a teapot is a palace
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| corduroy hills in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia |
Also linked to Magpie Tales Mag 94, where there are plenty more tea drinkers.
x
21 comments:
Just found your blog, lovely. I especially love the first verse of this poem.
Love this! In its entirety and also for "antimacassared" one of my favorite words. Wonderful poem, Isabel.
Travelogue via tea - and teapot. You have done some powerful conjuring with this. A wonderful format to share some of your widely-acquired knowledge, magical words. xo
I love the 'corduroy hills' but the aching backs of the pickers are not so good.
As an avid tea drinker, i really enjoyed this. Nice one.
How exciting to read someone who knows a thing or two about tea. A homeopath took me off coffee back in 2003 and I have never returned, taking tea instead myself. I used to be a bit of a tea snob, going out of my way to get "the good stuff" but lately I am taking the cheap stuff just fine.
I notice that you make a point of the harshness of the work but tea country so often looks beautiful.
hot and beautiful one.
It is perfect time for tea.
My mother collected teapots - I inherited just over 1,000 of them. In answer to the opening line YES.
I loved this response to this weeks prompt.
I adore "corduroy hills"...
Merely the pic is awesome! And the words made this post better...
JJRod'z
Ah yes, tea looks appropriate. Maybe a chance of high tea one day?
I am absolutely in love with this marvelous tribute to tea on two accounts.
I love tea.
As a Malaysian, I envy your insight to Malaysia.
nice...love some of your phrasing....like me some tea every once in a while...
Your "Teapots", more than a palace...indeed, a world..just wonderful.
Yes, what is it about teapots that draws us to them-I don't even drink much tea but there is a romance in them, although I sense comfort as opposed to the discomfort and alienation of Tooker's art.
this was warm and aromatic
loved every stanza
truly loved it
...but I am a teapot collector
Corduroy hills have aching backs
bend, pluck, toss and heave
bend again in endless row...
Is that really a photo of "tea leave bushes" Stunning. I've never thought of what they look like!
Tea - universal panacea...
Love it - just as much as I love a cup of tea!
Anna :o]
Thanks for your comment on (and your conclusion to) my cubicle story. It hadn't occurred to me that no matter what we do, we all do end up in boxes.
"still a teapot is a place"
Yes, I sense this too! Wonderful poem, and I just had an argument with my hub as to what time, exactly is teatime? I said 2 pm he said 4 pm and not I learn it is 3 pm? A happy medium I suppose would be 3 pm. How did this come to be? Funny!
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