Emily’s Tea Party 1907--By Zona Rowand Lawrence--United States

Emily’s Tea Party 1907

The tiny tea pot and sugar bowl made of the finest china
sits on the small round table in Emily’s room where Dinah
has set the plates of cookies in the middle of the Damask cloth.

Emily is five years old and enjoys her once a week tea party with friends
Today it is Annabelle and Jessie who come to share her hot chocolate
and ginger snaps cook has made with care especially for her party.

Emily cleans up her toys and puts on her new dress
she checks that her ribbons are still tied in bows
A knock on the door tells her the friends are here
they come in and exclaim on the beautifully set table
they adore the tea pot and sugar bowl so delicate

It is painted with flowers and cherubs to spark imaginations.
They don’t know it’s their last tea party -- for tomorrow
all of the special dishes are to be sold. Emily’s father
has had a financial set-back. They must have money
for food -- but for today the children have a tea party to enjoy.

After many years as a stage performer, Zona found she enjoyed writing. She studies at Paradise Valley Community College.  Her work has appeared in several anthologies at the school and elsewhere. In 2004, she won $20,000.00 for her poem, “Indiscriminate Sestina.”  She and her husband, Jack, are creating a Diet by Poetry Journal to help whittle away those pounds with a little rhyming fun. Last year in the Paradise Review her poem, “If He Had Hit Me”, won third place and her one act play, “A Shaggy Dog Story”, won second place.