Earl Grey Eavesdrops
Darling Darjeeling, Orientally polite,
And herbal relaxants too pure to incite
Keep essentially confidential to cup and pot;
Specific they are but inevitable not.
In contrast, seeping through uniform spouts,
Earl Grey makes his way through what bustles and touts.
Steeped in wood panels, beveled with glass,
Around luminous dark corners Earl Grey makes his pass.
Hundreds of years of conversations he’s heard,
All of them repetitive, boring, absurd;
But still he listens, haunting high tea,
For in eavesdropping he serves reason to be.
– Mary Jo Magar –