चाय (Tea)

tea leaves
tea loves
loves tea
lives tea
leaves tea?
never.
~Uniek Swain

Tea is the most artistic drink known to mankind.

Yes, this might be a bit of an objective statement open to a great deal of personal opinion.

But think about it.

Tea is the drink of the thinker. Of the poet. Of the author and the painter.

Thoughts of tea conjure up ideas of leather-bound books, whispered lines of Tennyson and Keats, and pens resting against antique inkwells.

Whisps of steam floating from fresh-poured cups fill winter days with images of fluffy quilts and classic novels, set to the soundtrack of Ingrid Michaelson and Joshua Radin.

The clinking of ice cubes in tall glasses bring to mind idyllic Southern summers, floppy straw hats and soft cotton sun-dresses, and walking down sidewalks hand-in-hand with the one you love.

Tea is the drink of the dreamer. Of the dancer and the wisher. Of the one with her head in the clouds and her heart tied up in pale pink ribbons.

It's the drink of the old soul hiding behind young eyes, thinking back on the past and wishing for change without change.

It's such a simple drink...just leaves soaked in water.

Why does it have such a way of unlocking hearts and whispering secrets, of telling old stories and painting new pictures?

Maybe it's magic. Maybe it's a mystery.

But I am a dreamer. A poet. An artist, a writer.

And I am made of dreams and thoughts and whispers.

I am made of tea.

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~C.S. Lewis