Ode to Tea
In the darkness I tiptoe toward the kitchen and
draw fresh water from the ever-ready tap.
The sound of water boiling warms my spirit before even the first taste.
Two teaspoons of green powder –
that magical substance known for healing
and the alert calm I feel upon sipping.
I cup my hands around the ceramic mug, bringing its rim toward my mouth.
Warming me like a blanket, the warmth trickles down,
covering and coating my core –
 Each sip a droplet of warm tranquility.
I smile as I quietly acknowledge the journey of the green ground leaves –
Many hands were involved in cultivation of my liquid meditation.
This bitter substance from far away, now touches my tongue
With notes of bitterness swirling with honey and tones of almond milk.
The ecstasy of flavors whirl around on my palate like yogic asanas –
I take a breath before tasting the elixir again.
Minutes go by and the sun announces her pending arrival.
My cup simultaneously shows its bottom,
Featuring designs of leftover powder now thick and sticky.
I smile again.
That powdered tea has ritualized my morning with moments
of living in the presence of each passing second.
Now I will begin my day, noting my date with Mr. Matcha tomorrow.
Grateful for Tea
This poem was inspired by Pablo Neruda’s Ode to My Socks. I delighted in reading it as he illustrates such gratitude in his new socks.
One of my most favorite things about my day is sipping a cup of tea early in the morning. It’s a meditative ritual I’ve devised for myself.
I don’t drink coffee.
I’ve always preferred tea.
When I read Neruda’s poem, I was inspired to express gratitude, but I wasn’t sure about which specific thing. I spent my day mulling over the various things for which I am grateful.
No matter what, though, my morning ritual always includes a cup of tea.
Occasionally I use a tea bag, but my tea of choice is matcha.
Matcha Tea
Matcha is ground-up green tea leaves. It’s “powdered” tea.
It’s green tea, but amped up. And oh, so good!
It’s concentrated, which is why it has a lot of caffeine. But I will tell you, you don’t get this crazy jolt of energy.
In fact, meditating monks over in the Far East use it for long meditation sessions.
It helps to keep them going and their energy levels higher.
In the mornings, it helps to wake me up, but like I said, you don’t get a jolt of caffeine.
You sip and feel more calmly awake. Until you’ve tried it, this feeling is hard to describe.
The powder itself is bright green and fun to experiment with.
You put two teaspoons into your cup and fill with nearly boiling (not boiling) water. As the tea bubbles up with the water, it creates a neat-looking bubble layer that always makes me think of Mr. Miagi in the Karate Kid.
(Am I aging myself?) He had all these secret remedies for ailments.
You’re only supposed to drink one cup of this in a day.
More than that and you actually risk exposing yourself to too much lead. Surprising, right?
It’s because you’re drinking concentrated green tea leaves. That means you’re drinking a lot of leaves at once, essentially, and from the growing process, these leaves absorb what’s in the air and ground and yes, there’s lead.
But, no matter.
The benefits far outweigh the drawbacks: the tea makes your body more “basic,” instead of acidic, meaning it’s incredibly effective at fighting free radicals, as it contains a high amount of antioxidants.
I will caution that, again, because you’re drinking concentrated leaves, you might not want to drink this on an empty stomach the first few times.
Some people get nauseated after drinking green tea itself, let alone matcha.
It just depends on what you’re used to.
I’ve never been a coffee drinker, though.
Perhaps I’m just addicted to the meditative nature and special kind of caffeine that tea so characteristically has.
Do you drink tea?
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A girl after my own heart for tea.. I too do not drink coffee often.. I love the aroma of Coffee.. but I am not a fan of drinking it.. Tea is my preferred drink also. I drink lots of herbal ones.. And Jasmine Green Tea is among my favorites. I didn’t know that about lead poisoning. Interesting.. I did know about the fighting of free radicals, and high amount of antioxidants though… Its useful have a daughter so qualified in the health food business.. 🙂
Loved your creative poem Cynthia.. And I never came across the ode to socks before.. 🙂
I hope you have a wonderful new week..
Sending lots of Love your way..
Sue xx
Sue – hehe. You know, when I was back in college, I worked at a bookstore with a coffee shop but I only ever tried the coffee maybe once or twice and couldn’t stomach it…but the aroma was heavenly. So yes…I love the scents but drinking it…whew. No thank you. I love herbal teas, too! Mmm…Jasmine Green…I love white tea and black tea and oolong and…well…I haven’t met a tea I didn’t like.
And your daughter works in the health food business – oh, that’s right! That’s great!
With regard to poetry, I’ve been really inspired by Rumi lately. I keep thinking about his poems of love and I want to explore this medium more. I also hope you have a wonderful week and can’t wait to read more of your stories! <3 xo
I do love tea – all kinds. Loose, bag, black, green. All of it. But I also do love coffee. I’ve had matcha (have some in the pantry right now) but I honestly don’t know if I see it replacing my coffee in the morning. Hmm.
Now. The question, I suppose, is do I actually love ALL coffee or do I just love my husband’s perfectly-made coffee. It’s true. His is perfect and I find I don’t enjoy pretty much any other coffee anymore. Spoiled? Yes. 🙂
So could I drop morning coffee for matcha? I have to consider that.
Now, the matcha I have right now says 1 Tbsp per 8 oz cup of water, which is more than your 2 tsp. I wonder if it’s too strong that way so maybe I’ll try it your way and see if I like that better. The poem certainly sounds like a lovely experience.
Also? I love Neruda.
Lisa – oooh, me, too!!! Yes…loose, bag, black, green…chai, oolong, white, concentrated, unconcentrated, hehe. People know this about me and give me things like tea kettles, boxes of tea and tea paraphernalia during the holidays. 😀
And no, it doesn’t have to replace coffee…and if husby makes perfectly-made coffee, well…why mess with a good thing? 🙂
Dropping coffee for matcha…well…I dunno. I have tried coffee enough to experience that caffeine jolt. You don’t get that at all with matcha. It’s more of a…and I’m totally serious…I’m typing here this morning and have my cuppa next to me. I’ve just finished it and I suddenly looked up and thought, ‘hmm, I feel more awake now…ahhhh.” Haha.
As for the measurements…yes, experimenting is always fun. 🙂 1 tbsp, eh? That is a lot – I’ll bet there’s a lot of powder leftover, yes? I only say that from my own experience: I hate it when I put in too much – it won’t dissolve in the hot water and then I have a paste of green left over.
And you love Neruda! You’re a girl after my heart!
I can’t stop smiling as I literally just wrote today about my tea drinking ways with a recipe, too made with tea. Seriously it was like we were on the same wavelength this morning (but aren’t we more often than not?!). Hugs and wishing you a lovely Monday and week ahead now!! 🙂 xoxo
Janine – hehe, YOU make me smile! You wrote about tea!? I MUST go over and have a look-see as soon as I finish commenting. 😀 Oh, sweet friend! I’m so glad to know you. How many years has it been now? We’ve journeyed together and you have come so far!!
Wishing you a lovely week. Keep smiling and having fun! Hugs to the girls. xo
I think, that I will try this Matcha tea, next time I go for buying new Cynthia 🙂
I just made a cup of Indian Chai, when I saw your e-mail 😀
Enjoy my coffee too, even I have been cutting down through the last years. Now more green tea of different kind.
Sweet Irene – Hehe. I LOVE chai, too. Especially with vanilla soymilk. I admit, I *do* have a sweet tooth. 😀 And you’ve been gaining traction with green tea…mmmmm! Yes…when you try matcha, let me know what you think! It tastes like strong green tea to me. It’s naturally bitter and I can drink it alone, but I prefer a little milk (some type of vanilla soy or almond) and honey. You know…sweet tooth. 😀
I’m not much of a tea drinker, Lil Sis. I don’t dislike it; I just prefer my mocha in the morning. But I do love early mornings before the world awakens. The quiet reflection time is my favorite.
Six inches of snow last night. This morning is still and glorious!
BB – you know, if I drank coffee, I’d have a mocha every morning, too. I was saying in another comment how I have a sweet tooth. I’ll admit, I won’t turn down a mocha frappuccino, but that’s something I like in the afternoons…maybe after lunch or something. Though I do not drink them often and I always feel “swirly” afterwards. Haha.
But the quiet reflection time in the mornings? My favorite! 🙂
And you got lots of snow! Fun! I’d rather have A LOT of it and not have to go out than have just a little and have them call a snow day and it’s melted by the afternoon. LOL.
I drink both tea and coffee, but have gotten used to the stronger aroma and taste of coffee. You make me smile with appreciation for your clear passion and love of your morning tea. Maybe I’ll try mucho macha! XD
Brad – haha. That’s not surprising – I know a lot of folks who drink both. My husby does, too. He’s even tried to “help” me to drink coffee, but I just never could acquire the taste for it in the mornings. But, well. We all have our “thing,” no?
And mucho matcha!? I love it!! If you try it, let me know! I love to hear about what other folks think about it. 🙂
My taste for coffee was hard to acquire and it it harder on my body, but I love the aroma. I would do well to stop drinking coffee. 🙂 Viva la Matcha! XD
Brad – I LOVE the aroma, too. 🙂 Truth be told, I tried to acquire the taste of coffee a time or two and it just never worked. 😛 But, just as well…mmm…tea. Hehe. Don’t worry though: coffee has plenty of benefits, too.
OK, I’m sitting here looking out my window at the cold and rainy world and I’ve decided it’s time to go make some of that matcha your way – because yes there is always so much stuff leftover. So 2 tsps. it is.
Lisa – Haha…did it work? And hope you’re staying warm and fuzzy. 🙂
Your green tea sounds delightful. Although I am not really much of a tea drinker, I did enjoy the British tea I had while in London. I never could seem to replicate it. Today I drink my morning espresso which I also enjoy. Have a wonderful weekend. ^__^
Mary Ann – nice to see you over here. <3 I do love me some matcha tea, hehe. But if you love your espresso, then I say enjoy that espresso. 😀
Life is too short not to enjoy the things we love and besides, drinking a morning cup of coffee can be just as meditative and a mindful experience as tea. I'm so glad you came over!!
so many wonderful
words for tea!
here i’ve been
sipping it
wordlessly 🙂
smilecalm – well, HELLLOOOO! 😀
I love your poetic responses and words
Sweet little comments and blurbs
You make me smile in delight
Words so sweet and lovely and bright.
I have to admit I’ve never heard of this particular type of tea, Cynthia, but that could just be me – I’m always behind with the times. 🙂 We do have green tea over here, of course, and it’s popular with many people. Britain is a nation of tea drinkers, but most of us oldies like the traditional black tea. The beneficial effects of matcha sound wonderful, so I’ll have to look round for it next time I’m shopping. I’d love to give it a try, and will just have to remember the one-cup-a-day rule! Interesting post and a lovely, evocative poem.
milliethom – you’re over in the UK! I love that! I’ve been wanting to visit and one reason is the tea! (That and husby has familial ties over there.) I do love a good black tea (though I’m sipping matcha this second with a bit of evaporated milk and honey – sooo good!) and so many brands they sell over here in the US are from the UK.
I’d never heard of matcha until a few years ago when a fellow friend wrote about it and from then on, I was hooked.
Thank you for the feedback on my poem – I am flexing my poetic muscle. 🙂
I love the poem that so eloquently expresses the practice of mindfulness of your morning tea ritual.
LuAnne – nice to see you here. 🙂 Thank you for your sweet words – I do love my morning tea. It’s such a special time of day. Hehe. Have a wonderful day!
Thanks again dear Cyndi for your lovely replies.. My last comment vanished, so I hope it appears, as It was a long one to your Life project.. <3 xxx
It did! It did, my sweet friend! Yes, your words are so uplifting – and I so look forward to your wonderful comments. 🙂
Sue – it’s here! It’s here. Hehe.
I know, I almost JUMPED for JOY when I saw it had taken.. 🙂 now I only have two more sites to sort out and I am FReeeeeeeeee! haha
Hehe, Sue, you BRING me joy! <3 <3 <3
Likewise
so nice to meet a fellow tea lover! I love coffee too. Alas, coffee doesn’t love me back. So tea it is — & what a wonderful lover it is 🙂
da AL – haha! Yes! I LOVE tea! 🙂 In fact, as I respond, I’m drinking matcha this morning. 🙂 Sending you hugs! Thanks for your comment. 🙂
I am also a tea lover…am eagerly awaiting my order of chaga tea after a few virtual referrals. Will be adding matcha to my list as well thanks to you, dear Cynthia.
Love your poem and you too, Maria
Maria – oh, don’t you just love the tea? There are so many delicious, wonderful kinds and I just love them all. 🙂 The chaga is so yummy, too. It’s a subtle taste, but gets stronger the more you steep it. And matcha…I gave it up this month of June, but I am looking forward to having my beloved matcha again. 🙂 I’m glad you liked the poem – oh I could just *hug* you! Sending you love and light! <3