Best Tea Leaf Poems
One More Cuppa Tea
to the unknowing
the cup is empty,
slightly stained,
laced with miniscule
cracks. It has a glossy
sheen., polished
by life’s luster,
buffed and buffeted
by its burdens,
distilling Orange Pekoe
fortunes, reflecting
the passage of time
in the eyes of
the tea leaf readers.
she sits, this cup,
this reservoir
of moments,
symbol of
a simpler time,
the balm of a warm cup
in loving hands
shared across a table,
across a generation,
across the great divide
of age.
Oh, to see it full again,
feel its amber warmth,
inhale its steaming secrets,
nuzzle each endless moment.
Share
one more
“cuppa tea”.
©12/20/2017
submitted to – Best free verse poem October-December 2017 – Poetry Contest
The Great Bell of Bow
I feel such a Steam Tug and no Porkies
Some Tea Leaf Half Inched me Jam jar
In me local Nuclear Sub you wouldn’t Christmas Eve it
Almost totally Boracic on the way to me Pope in Rome
It’s Radio Rental I was just havin a George Raft
A nice Beggar Boys Ass such a lovely Pigs Ear
I only popped out for a quick Gypsies
Not even time to upset me Chalfonts
Me I’d Raspberry n Ripple em
But no leave it to the Bottle and Stoppers
Called Uncle Wilf he just showed me the Henry Moore
Forced to use a Sherbet Dab to get to me Mickey Mouse
I hope the Barnaby or the Garden Gate does em
If not up in Ding Dong or blessed with Surrey Docks
There all covered in Dudleys and end up Hank Marvin
The J Arthur Rankers
Cockney Rhyming Slang
Steam Tug – Mug – fool- idiot
Porkies(pork Pies) – lies
Tea leaf – thief
Jam Jar- Car
Half inched – pinched – stole
Nuclear Sub -pub
Christmas Eve it – believe it
Boracic (lint) –skint- no money
Pope in Rome – home
Radio Rental – mental-a silly situation
George Raft – a draught beer
Beggar Boys Ass – Bass beer (from Burton)
Pigs Ear – beer
Gypsies (kiss) - *iss
Chalfont (St Giles) – piles –haemorrhoids (sorry about that)
Raspberry and Ripple – cripple
Bottle and Stoppers - coppers
Uncle Wilf – filth –Police (sorry about that as well)
Henry Moore - door
Sherbet Dab – cab
Mickey Mouse – house
Barnaby (Rudge) – judge
Garden Gate – Magistrate
Ding Dong (Bell) – Hell
Surrey Docks – the pox
Dudley (Moore’s) - sores
Hank Marvin – starving
The J Arthur Rankers – *ankers
The Great Bell of Bow
I feel such a Steam Tug and no Porkies
Some Tea Leaf Half Inched me Jam jar
In me local Nuclear Sub you wouldn’t Christmas Eve it
Almost totally Boracic on the way to the Pope in Rome
It’s Radio Rental I was just havin a George Raft
A nice Beggar Boys Ass such a lovely Pigs Ear
I only popped out for a quick Gypsies
Not even time to upset me Chalfonts
Me I’d Raspberry n Ripple em
But no leave it to the Bottle and Stoppers
Called Uncle Wilf he just showed me the Henry Moore
Forced to use a Sherbet Dab to get to me Mickey Mouse
I hope the Barnaby or the Garden Gate does em
If not up in Ding Dong or blessed with Surrey Docks
There all covered in Dudleys and end up Hank Marvin
The J Arthur Rankers
Cockney Rhyming Slang
Steam Tug – Mug (fool- idiot)
Porkies(pork Pies) – lies
Tea leaf – thief
Half inched – pinched (stole)
Nuclear Sub -pub (public house)
Christmas Eve it – believe it
Boracic (lint) –skint (no money)
Pope in Rome – home
Radio Rental – mental (a silly situation)
George Raft – a draught beer
Beggar Boys Ass – Bass beer (from Burton)
Pigs Ear – beer
Gypsies (kiss) - piss (sorry about that)
Chalfonts (St Giles) – piles –haemorrhoids (sorry about that!)
Raspberry and Ripple – cripple
Bottle and Stoppers - coppers
Uncle Wilf – filth –Police (sorry about that as well!)
Henry Moore - door
Sherbet Dab – cab
Mickey Mouse – house
Barnaby (Rudge) – judge
Garden Gate – Magistrate
Ding Dong (Bell) – Hell
Surrey Docks – the pox
Dudley (Moore’s) - sores
Hank Marvin – starving
The J Arthur Rankers – (w)ankers (very sorry about that!)
I Like The 'Black Tea, The White Tea
and The English Breakfast & Earl Grey'
and I Serve 'Rooibos' and 'Ginger' Teas
In My Silver Pot, Cups & Tray
I Like The 'Rose Tea and Herbal Teas
& The Honey-Vanilla-Chamomile'
& 'Apple-Cinnamon' & 'Orange-Pekoe'
Topped With Sliced Lemon Wedge Frills
(& Balancing Cup & Saucer & Carrot Cake's A Skill)
I've Teas of 'Lavender & Hibiscus
& of Jasmine' Flavored Hints
I Pour These Liquid Petals
To Be My Pretty Porcelain's Contents
and That Brand of 'Ancient Tea Trees'
& of Ceylon's '1001 Nights'
Tantalizes My Tastebuds
With Their Dark Teabags Delights
And Exotic Ginseng Teas Blend Into
A Warm & Soothing, Brewed Bond
As A Free Tea Leaf Floats Like
A Lotus In A Cup Pond
Swirling A Cream or Sugar? Concoction
In A Teaspoon's Pool
Gently Lifted To Our Lips Breath
To Savor & Cool
Wafting Aromatic Scents
Thru My Parlor Among My Guests
Or Just Me In My Kitchen
As Day Begins Afresh
But The Tea Mixture Taste
of A Preference Best For Me
Is The Oolong, Added With Peppermint
and Pure Green Tea
aaaah ... slurp
Join me for a sip ... slurp
Written & Copyrighted ©: 9/18/2013
by: MoonBee Canady
Tea leaf powder brewed
Token stream of tea devolves
Cyclye of life flows
Reincarnated grains bind
Nouveau palates sift huskings
zen swirled, tea leaf clouds
wisps of chi on autumn’s breath…
scent of sunflower
**31 Jan 2016**
I have a cup full of tea leaves
that my story, it is suppose to
hold.
I don't know if I believe this
but the cup is lovely enough
I should at least listen as it is
told.
Gripped tightly the handle was
as it was spun around.
Stopping on a drip as the tea
leaves settle without ever the
slightest sound.
Lovely scent of tea is in the air
and even though the aroma is
sweet. I am wondering what is
written in there.
A heavy question stayed in tow.
Should I stay? or Should I go?
She told me she stopped drinking to avoid a hangover
This, I laughed at
She does a lot of things almost like idiocy but I wouldn’t dare call it that
Not doing things to evade the consequence sounds so chic
Like last week’s episode of desperate housewives
Indeed it sounds funny but I do it all the time
I stop laughing to avoid crying
I stop loving to avoid hating
And I stopped flying, to avoid the fall
It takes too much effort to think thus every so often I follow the path before me
What’s more dim-witted?
Doing something that works or doing something that’s been done before
I’m not certain but surely I’ll find out tomorrow
When my diary is full and my last tea leaf is stuck to the
bottom of the kettle
Most of my life will be a quest to understand myself
But here I am still inquiring
Questions are for the living and answers are for the dead
This is the only answer I have
In this way I am educated
More educated then the corporate men two blocks away
Drinking star bucks to inflate their egos every morning
Cancerous cells developed in their brain from the overdose of money
That is arranged by their payroll
And I can’t help but laugh at those battling each other on political stands
For even the child staring at me from the other side of the mirror understands
That the biggest battle is within ourselves
It takes a day to comprehend how molecules work, to build an atom bomb
But it’s taken mankind’s existence to discover how our own minds work
Man has done a lot of things almost like idiocy but I wouldn’t dare call it that
Echoes of the woman's tea-leaf warnings
bounce in my head...
I stare at the spilled apple sauce
all over my bed...
I watch the flickering TV in the convalescent home...
My pharmacy number is in my phone...
I dream in German but can't utter a word...
My memories blurred... My speech slurred...
Remember when we were blissful and unwed?
Why did you leave? Was it something I said?
My mind is not what it used to be...
I'm a rotting shell of stupidity...
What is she making? Someone asks, wondering aloud.
She is a pretty girl, friendly, but not overly loud.
It looks like something red, someone replies. Maybe berries?
There is a little bit of tittering from the tea leaf faeries.
She is making eyeball tea, they begin to sing in rhyme.
It is lemon like, so fruity, we drink it all the time!
The elves are horrified, for they are a tiny bit prissy.
Come have some I say to my best friend and my sissy.
Eyeball tea! You are kidding! My sister says. Right?
Come and taste it, I tell her. It is simply out of sight.
Once you have it you will not want to drink anything else ever.
I see the elves and gnomes sitting back. One gives a shiver.
denied creation once sighted beard man
that seperate then his girlfriend danced
strength from far away for me to find a fighter
memories but nothing because campionship
of awhile girl known was the time with west darkest
for sure, native soul shades punished nature
link slave let past come a lack of want i could tell
died i been accepted why its been a distinct treasure
alone to only- let a want to go greek
because i force out ghast genius for a pick me
used one love used road and smart for being fun of
two relation splitself dove my body is fulled runt
go get back spit arm gifted he came and flated tires
humble splintered denmim she is lolipop
knowing sees worth tea leaf full whole grain of milk iced
been wanted for freedom is like a feather on a underskin
rich ghost chains heaven flesh ways much to a flower
no other made home blooms to have essence a ton
even tough hes not old it is compared to a feeling
a bold forgotten reason cold soft light wax heart
Mid morning in the now leafy white poplar, tall and symmetrical,
four flashing light and dark magnificent magpies tea leaf, steal the
mannerisms of tinier wagtails by moving their tails up and down dancing
around from branch to branch leading following each other and chattering
away as though they have nothing else to do all day, for on this lovely day
their instincts start to do what all other young adult creatures do in Spring.
She spent her life doing just the one thing,
One thing that people payed for,
The one thing nobody else could do…
They’d pay to watch her perform,
She’d tell them their future with a little tea leaf,
She’d read the lines on their hand,
Or she’d spread the cards from an old tarot deck,
Revealing what the cards understand,
And sometimes the news was full of good fortune,
Sometimes it was filled in with dread,
Sometimes the numbers were a little abstruse,
And folks had to decode what was said.
Either way, she made a fortune, from telling a fortune,
For people who’d always confide,
And tell them the things they needed to hear,
To help clear and freshen their minds.
there are very blurred lines between
what is coincidence and what is augury
omen, or fore-token
for in my dreams and meditation
I have been confronted with regret and shame
sorrow, and grief about my life thus far
my past is full of
condemnation and self-reproach
humiliation, self-punishment and tears
sending me on a journey of soul-searching
oh, I went for a palm-reading
for crystal gazing, for tea-leaf reading
and tarot reading with no real results
in my meditation I am looking for a sign
some signal or manifestation
some evidence of an omen
but can find none
so, I have concluded that my life
as it is
with its experiences is the same as
everyone more or less
Cool Moe B
Back in the day we used to pray
Others say it ought not be that way
Snake pit, lion's den you need someone to be your friend
Your a soldier in the army of God
Cool Moe B in the place to be
Rocking them rhymes in the land of glee
A city kid playing high on his grid
Shook the bananas pole with a tea leaf
Downtown hoods shooting dope in the back alley
Fixing with the switch homeboy got a nervous twitch
A beacon of honor in his high vested swag
Shooting pool in the patio needing a place to go
Smoking weed watch it bleed it will knock you to your knees
Brillo pads for fenders is it any wonder
The soldier in the middle playing second fiddle
Take me back to those good old days getting lost in a purple haze
Hoops dreams watch the bitches scream
Another dip of an ice cream flavor
A stereo or capper me and Eric B with a nice full plate of fish
Sorry that I missed burning this switch as we go free style