210413 having tea

 Apr. 13

having tea

i ran home after school

through iced-over ditches

in hand-me-down boots

and in the kitchen

mom made tea

i told her everything

i don’t remember how

but i felt as if i’d handed her my day

i don’t remember her arms

but i felt as if she held me to her

secure in her lap

she was fearless, mom

and she had strength enough for everything 

i came home late

and talked about boys and friends

angry at teenage life, at growing up

and things i didn’t understand at all

in the kitchen, having tea

mom listened

patient as the earth

she didn’t say she’d been there

took nothing away from me

poured the tea

afternoons or evenings

we ended up in the kitchen

said, how about some tea?

the eternal respite 

from walking in life

having tea

in the kitchen

we shared a lifetime of inside jokes

a history

words and gestures so bred in us

we knew with a certainty

exactly what was meant

when someone spoke

shall i make tea?

was a touchstone

a metaphor for coming home

from school

and work

from edmonton

from marriage 

and a home of my own

a ritual of stone

in a world of shifting tides

i still can see her tall and strong

still can see her old and tired

from struggling to live

she’s gone but i can see her

in the woman in the mirror

in the hand that reaches 

when the kids come home

Have a cup of tea. Be well.

Mumma Yaga

"Drink tea. There's lots of tea." Notting Hill, 1999

MY, having tea, 1998