Tea Talk
Ten in the night. The porch light flickers on, like a lighthouse in rural darkness. Healing begins with a door left open. An old lady at 90 sets the kettle to boil, chamomile steeping in amber pools of hope. The wooden sign leans against her window: Tea & Talk. Always Open to Anyone.
Seven nights of solitude. Cricket songs and empty chairs. Sometimes changing the world doesn't look like a movement. A cat winds between her ankles, purring questions into the cold night.
After a week, at ten in the night, footsteps are heard. A girl weeping, arms wrapped tight as winter coats wrapped around her broken dreams arrives. "Is this... real?” Someone to listen and offering Tea. The only currency that matters is presence. The old lady pours hot tea, with a smile of trust, warmth flowing from her heart to build hope and confidence, as she consoles the girl.
Desperate people finding solace come, one after another, now fifty. The space breathes with hopes, whispers confessions, sorrows, laughter and hope. Words are seeds….some fall on stone, others on fertile hearts. Truckers passing by with calloused hands cradle delicate cups. Widowers unfold photograph albums like prayer books. Teenagers flee late-night arguments, finding sanctuary in the old lady’s silent listening.
December blizzard is cold. Power lines snap like broken promises never to return. Shovels scrape against snow, lanterns bob through darkness. They won't let the place close. Community is not built….it is discovered. Solar lights on, generator humming, thermoses steaming. The warmest place in town glows with human constellation.
Spring arrives with its colourful glamour beautifully. Conversations spilling like wildflowers. Love multiplies when divided. Notes accumulate on old lady’s refrigerator, testimonies to the healing power of witnessed pain. A veteran sleeps through the night. A baby giggles for the first time. Someone chooses life over despair.
The movement spreads without manifesto or mission statement. Revolution sometimes whispers.
The heart's true home is where it dares to break open for all.
Ten PM chimes by Old lady,?warm light spills through winter dark,?tea steeps, door stays wide
Copyright © Dr. Padmashree R P | Year Posted 2025
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment