Snow Water
a poem
-by Michael Longley
A fastidious brewer of tea, a tea
Connoisseur as well as a poet,
I modestly request on my sixtieth
Birthday a gift of snow water.
Tea steam and ink stains. Single-
Mindedly I scald my tea pot and
Measure out some Silver Needles Tea,
Enough for a second steeping.
Other favorites include Clear
Distance and Eyebrows of Longevity
Or, from precarious mountain peaks,
Cloud Mist Tea (quite delectable)
Which competent monkeys harvest
Filling their baskets with choice leaves
And bringing them down to where I wait
With my crock of snow water.
our snow is melting now
and our weather forecast is back to it's rainy self portrait
either way is fine
we like it damp around here
good weather for ducks, mushrooms and trees
... and tea!
*
are you taking tea?
... perhaps you have some snow water to brew it in ...
I'm curious about Silver Needles Tea
or Clear Distance Tea
are they real or poetic?
21 comments:
Lovely poem and if those ARE real teas, I want some! LOL Glad to hear you are thawing out.
Hi Kimmie! Lovely poem.
We are happy to be clearing out here in Olympia...got my power back yesterday. yay! At least I had a gas stove to still enjoy my tea! Lots of Earl grey and ginger peach. :0)
I wish you could make a name for yourself as one of the greatest users of the macro lens. Honestly, your photos are just breathtaking!
Happy T Tuesday!! KImmie...
love this poem.... I do know about a special kind of tea grown on cliffs where monkeys are used to pick them...a dangerous feat for sure and it comes with a price too....
I heartily agree with Elisabeth--your photos make me wish for a better camera again. The poem is wonderful, delightful and unexpected in it's imagery. However, this is New York City, and I wouldn't hazard snow water unless I could catch the flakes before they hit the ground. Maybe not even then since the atmosphere snow passes through over a big bad City like this one probably begins it's transformation. None the less, in Massachusetts, I might. Meanwhile filtered water and steeped lavender buds suit me just fine.
It seems silver needle tea is real:)
http://www.chah.co.uk/silver-needle-white-tea-73-p.asp
Visions of Eyebrows of Longevity or Cloud Mist are only surpassed by the beauty of your photographs. Your photos are amazing. I've tried photographing through a screen window before, and your pictures are simply breathtaking!!
Have a super tea today!
Speaking of pictures, I am unable to access my external drives, so no photos from me today. Instead, I must rely on my scanner for:
http://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/2012/01/messed-up-tea.html
love the image of snow tea and the poem. lovely. we might get some melt soon ourselves.
I'd say they are REALLY POETIC dear Kimmie!
Lovely read and post and your raindrop on screen photos are brilliant too!
no snow here ... sniff sniff
here is my "heart" story T post for today :)
oxo
i think my tea shop has a couple of those! i'll have to make a journey...your pics are so beautiful and that poem! so perfect together...we have like 2 inches of snow...so weird for here...i'm making hearts again, hope you will have time to pop round, dear kimmie, happy tuesday!
Lovely photos are well as poem. We had snow yesterday during the morning commute...really messed things up. Normally I don't have to be out at that time of day but I had an appt. to keep. Thank goodness it wasn't more than 5 miles away. :)
Stop by for tea it you have a chance.
http://halleshobbies.blogspot.com/2012/01/virtual-tea.html
The last image and the poem really spoke to my heart. Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart
I love the poem :) and your photos, I agree, you should be entering into contests for sure and making prints for double sure :) that is a real talent, my dear!
I'm just here for a bit, not posting, busy Tuesdays for me! I'm just having breaky and coffee with a quick visit to a few blogs :) Have a great day!
Hi Kimmie, I hope that your Tuesday is a good one. I searched Michael Longley to see who he is. Always nice to learn something new. Best wishes to you and yours, Tammy
To have snow water, Missouri would have to have some snow first. haha A beautiful poem paired with perfect images. Steel Needles and Eyebrows of Longevity included.:)
I'm having tea today!
Don't know about real, but so poetic. xox
wow you still have melting snow. ours was gone as fast as it came. when i was a kid i'd get a bowl of snow and mom would add a little vanilla flavoring and some sugar to make me snow ice cream. yuk, now it doesn't even sound good.
Dearest Kimmie,
After all the wet days we had, today there was sunshine and temperatures around 68 degree Fahrenheit and tomorrow low 70s... Can you imagine?! Our daffodils are blooming now in large numbers. Unreal.
Love to you,
Mariette
I have no ideas about those teas, being a tea drinker on rare occasions only; however, I must say that when I read about them here I am tempted to at least put a cup of water in the microwave and add a tea bag right after.
I do love these photos of water drops.
Beautiful photos and a lovely poem!
Have a wonderful week!
Gaby
Great shots and words to go along!
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