09 March 2019

Sip the Tea


Image result for jigsaw puzzle tea cup
Cat and Teacup Vintage Victorian Jigsaw Puzzle by antiqueart



Let’s set out our next jigsaw adventure
on the lonely dried-out table that waits
for us to turn on lights and bring our tea.

Just you and me, baby.  Today, it’s just
you and me, so we won’t finish, but
we can start sorting pieces with our hearts.

Dad said Don’t put the cart before the horse,
remember?  But we always did, bustling
like Little Red Hens, doing six jobs each.

Why go it alone when, look: The number 
of pieces shows the possibility
of community!  If we only wait.  

Let’s turn the pieces right side up, then sit.
Let’s stir honey into our tea, let it
cool a bit.  Mint for you, ginger for me.

How jigsaws are like life, like trust among
family.  Two steps forward and one back,
a home emerges—and maturity.

Our towering years raise us up to see
the patterns throughout our story.  Some was
planned, I won’t say it was all hit and miss—

But did we know our jigsaw lives would look
like this?  The box had no cover art, and
which of us would care to paint the end?

So let’s wait awhile.  Let's not make all the cake
and eat it too. Let the horse pull the cart. It will,
you’ll see.  Let’s wait right here and sip our tea.





My blog poems are rough drafts.
Please respect my copyright. 

© 2019 Susan L. Chast

2 comments:

  1. I LOVE this SO MUCH! Love the conversational tone, the jigsaw puzzle, the tea, the look back at life........glorious! Sometimes tea and a puzzle are just exactly Enough.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the clarity of the scene, the closeness of those involved, and the tea (ginger for me, please).

    ReplyDelete

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