On Tea
Adam Osman-Krinsky

How can you taste a routine?
Centuries of waking up,
Millenia of water boiling, tasting
Leaves us becoming human.

A cure for the soul, that old
Indescribable mist, steam
That arises from our cups
Made of the lives of others.

Bring me a cup of your spiced
Smile, inhaling, touching hands
To warms sides, warming my insides
Asking for a cup of comfort in the cold.

Steeped emotions darken clear
Pathways, to fluidity and beyond
My capacity to describe the
Taste of history coating my tongue.

Red and green and grey
Painting my palette with
Black and blue and brown
Swallowing whole colors, wholer stories.

So sip, drink, sip, swallow
Smile, grin, teeth stained with
Struggle, triumph, and the warm feelings,
Of the comfort of waking up again.

Adam Osman-Krinsky attends school at Pomona College, loves movies, books, and Richard Scarry's picture books.