Tea (Draft 4) When I’ve wandered in the cold, Broken trees below the snow line Blue skies and fluff at the mountain top. I hear myself scream and But those sorrows are not of you, Winding down There is sweetness to the air and blinks become flutters I’ve seen it in a memo. Ding dong. — Douglas Gilbert
I’ve always hoped something would
move me like you do with true
approval and encouragement tea,
always hoped to let spirits of you sanctify
meanders in the cold with gracious thoughts,
those hot dreams of you that infuse the stew
I carry in my backpack, mostly filled with
drudge stuff, but your precious memorandear
is tucked into the rear pocket made for
precious notes like gems amen, something
to hold for incantations against pebbles
in the shoes and grace for stumble stones
that haunt the winding up mountain path
broken hearts above
misty mountain hawks
splintered memories clawing
In a cloud I see your face, a
tea cup and a dove, but
see the grief of my breath
form wispy puffs that fly away
though you do embrace every sparrow,
and when you’d not know
the name of the bird, you’d
christen it cute and lovely like you are
there are birds in the sky
and no stumble stones, but
only the scent of tea up my nose
the feel of a memorandear in my pocket
your valley is near,
could be I’ll stumble
by your house to leave a note
or ring where I learned that
fresh tea is sweet when brewed
for an occasion where eyes meet
a stuttered word divine, because
what would be affirmed in the steep
is the scent of wafting play where
seeping things flow out into
the rivers in two cups
fragrant with cinnamon
and swirly with a word
whispered in the mists
before silence goes to bed
dandegirl said
hmmm…I swear i thought i commented on this already. I see that I liked it. Oh yeah, I think i started to comment on it and it was late and I was so sleepy and wasn’t making a lot of sense so I deleted it and meant to come back.
But I meant to say, it is beautiful. I love it, the new additions seem to make the first stanza flow along more smoothly. I like the “gems amen”. Sounds great together. Oh and I like the word memorandear, I don’t think i’ve ever heard it before this poem.
Doug said
Thanks. Well, um, uh and ut oh or rather ut yes, I invented the word — I changed “dum” to “dear”. Not exactly a Latin ending… but the plural of memoranda is not that interesting or the short memo… the da duh dear deer syndrome makes for interesting spelling sound dilemmas if had with lemonade… Oh dear, the lemonade dilemma: is there too much sugar… she’s written me a memorandear about the lemonade dilemma: too much sugar may be unhealthy but who wants a sour puss — puckers are reserved for other things, and….. Um, uh, what was the question again — I forgot.
dandegirl said
ut yes…(giggle) I like it when you invent words. I think i like the ‘dear’ ending much better than the ‘dum’ ending anyways. It has a nice ring to it and sounds warmer or sweeter or something along those lines. And i personally think lots of sugar is just fine in lemonade, especially if it’s made by someone sweet, like you. : )
Doug said
Hmmm, I found this in a search where they said, “did you mean “memorando”. I thought it might be a video game or something because I’ve only heard of memorandum. But it gave this:
“El memorando, conocido originalmente como memorándum, es un documento escrito que se utiliza en una empresa para comunicarse internamente.” — which google translate gives as:
“The memo, originally known as memorandum is a written document that is used for business to communicate internally.”
Doug said
Isn’t that odd: in English, memorandum has been shortened to “memo”, whereas in Spanish, memorandum has been shortened to “memorando”. Not much shorter, but I see the problem since it already has an “o” ending, maybe I guess — suppose they can’t call it memoo, although I don’t suppose that cows give each other memoo’s written in hoof prints…
dandegirl said
That is odd…
memoo’s (giggling). I suppose animals have to get a little more creative with their memos. That reminds me of the baby cows at the farm by my parent’s house for some reason. When i used to pick my son up from school in the afternoon we would drive down the farm road and stop by the cow field and they would all run over to the fence. My son and i would talk to them in silly moo sentences like: moo, moo moooo moo moo….ect with different vocal tones. I mainly did it just to make my son laugh but the calves seemed to like it too. Sometimes they’d get all frisky and buck around. They are so cute.
hmmm…I wonder if when a cat sends a memo if it’s called a memeow? hehehe…
dandegirl said
I just noticed that I did it again with the etc! I always type ect for some reason. What is up with that?? My etceteras are always wrong…
Doug said
Talking to the cows sounds like a lot of fun. They should do a mooch mhour moo commercial like they did for the cat meow mix where the cat sang meow/meow/meow/meow (chorus). Some clever cat was able to send an enticing memeow to a talent scout and convince them to make the commercial. Need equal time for memoos. The cats won out on that one. Doesn’t seem fair: the cats get to have their milk and drink it too.
dandegirl said
(giggling) It’s not fair, poor cows! I bet it’s all because cats are looked at as friends and cows are considered food. Although I do remember that commercial, I loved it! I haven’t seen that in forever. It was one of those tunes that would get stuck in my head and I’d be humming it all day long after I heard it.