"Blood Group: Tea Positive.."

Tea is much like poetry. And, I think, from all poetic forms, it is the humble seventeen-syllabled haiku which comes closest to capturing the essence of a cuppa tea. Both, simple in form, yet complex in content, impart unto us a hint of immortality, caught in the net of time.

Who would have thought that one inadvertent act of letting a handful of leaves steep in water, could pave way, not only for some quiet contemplation and meditation, but also for explorative voyages, and revolutions? Different teas, according to the colour, aroma, oxidation, and the mouthfeel, give rise to a multitude of  moods. They take us places within us we did not know existed. "Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage", Catherine Douzel once wrote.

Having a perfect cup of tea is pure happiness: it satisfies all the senses: visual, taste, olfactory, even auditory. Is it a wonder then that since the beginning of civilization, tea, much like spices, has been instrumental in bringing people together? Friendships are formed over a cup of tea, people fall in love over a cup of tea...secrets are shared through a cup of tea, fortunes are revealed by reading the dregs at the bottom of a cup of tea.

Following are a few of my own tea haikus, to commemorate the international tea day, which was actually yesterday...

1. smudged skies, blotted views,

     my hands wrapped around a cup

     of tea: ah, perfect!

2. give me a cup of tea,

     a birdsong, a shard of sky

      to call my own.

3. the sky dances, the

    river sings, the kettle on 

    the stove hums along.

4. drowning in a cup of tea,

    a thousand memories:

     i fish them out.

5. at the lotus feet of Buddha

     I sit and enjoy

      a cup of tea.

7. a kettle whistles,

         scattering the huddled silence

          of the morning.

8. with such zeal she brews

     a cup of tea,

     so much love in her eyes

      when she serves.

9. each cup of tea

     refreshes the memory

     of an absent moment.

10.  a cricket singing,

        one last sip of tea,

        then, i shall watch the sunset.

11. temple bells from yonder hills:

       time for my evening tea

       and daifuku.*

*rice buns stuffed with bean paste.

Steeped in the memory of many a cup of tea we have indulged in, and companionship we have brewed together,  I wish all my family and friends a stirring international tea day.