A Teabag on Stage

                    (Terza Rima)
                   A three-line stanza form borrowed from the Italian poets. The rhyme-scheme is
aba, bcb, cdc, ded, etc.
In other words one rhyme-sound is used for the first and third line of each stanza and a new rhyme introduced for the second line, this new rhyme, in turn, being used for the first and third lines of the subsequent stanza. Usually the meter is iambic pentameter.

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A bud and two leaves at the time to pick,
collected in bamboo-knit, crafty bags,
my show’s a solitary journey’s flick.

A tea-kettle, with water boiling, brags
to drain to dregs the oolong, black, or green,
in flimsy paper packed with useless tags.

As meditative act, one woman’s scene,
within a cup, I swim and brew to spurt
special attention to a fate obscene.

I bear my load, so mind’s treasures convert
to telling fortunes from the loosened leaves,
to sweep her off her feet, away from hurt.

I curl up on the saucer, as she weaves
a private solace with her fingertips,
and grace of ease her captive heart receives.

Recalling sandhills, souvenirs, she sips,
her shadow-playing chill takes flight afar;
she beams in bliss for I have wet her lips.

In flooding light of life’s repertoire,
since given no thing, for nothing she asks,
but in her cup I am her soothing star.