Shane Zhao Poet Free verse

Let Time Steep 26-08-2026

Tea must blossom in the water
before its deepest flavour can emerge;
perhaps the heart is much the same-
we suffer less when we learn to let go.

But the longer the tea is steeped,
the more bitter it becomes.
And the more we turn a thought over,
the more tears that it can bring.

Yet bitter tea is not always unpleasant 
and tears do not always mean sorrow.
Sometimes a cup grows darker
only because it has been given time
to become what it had always meant to be.

Steep it once, and it will be strong.
Steep it again, and it will soften.
Maybe people are like that too:
what hurts when held so tightly
will begin to loosen, inch by inch
when given time to breathe.

We do not ask the first cup 
to be the most pleasant.
Nor should we demand ourselves
to wash away a heavy sadness
in a single moment.

Let it steep.

Let the days be water.
Let the heart slowly open
Let what is too bitter today
become gentler with time.

Some things are not meant 
to be rushed away-
they are meant to 
slowly
dissolve.

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