Tea and Sympathy--By Maralee Gerke--United States

Tea and Sympathy

                      (for Glennis and Glenda)

Chairs set on freshly mowed grass

the dew barely dry.

A small table set with handmade

placemats and mismatched cups.

Clean washing snaps to and fro on the line.

My friends bring sandwiches

and a pot of fragrant tea from the house.

They know my heart is troubled and hover like

older sisters (even though I am only a year younger)

The brew steams with soul healing heat.

I relax into my chair and listen to them

tell their lives while

they support mine.

Tea and friends,

my heart feels the beginning of change.

My face lifts to the warm autumn sun.

Kindness, Simplicity, Humanity,

served in a porcelain cup.

Maralee Gerke lives and writes in Madras, Oregon. She is and avid reader and gardener. She describes herself as a work in progress. Her poems have been published in Calyx, Exit Thirteen, Moonset, Bathtub Gin, Anthology, Nerve Cowboy, Avocet, and Tigers Eye. She has published two books of poems and has had poetry and prose accepted in several anthologies. Her work can be seen online at Shadow Poetry, Long Story Short, and Moontown Café. She recently recorded 4 poems for the Oregon Poetic Voices Project. They can be heard at oregonpoeticvoices.org One of her poems “Refuge”, was recently selected to be printed as a limited edition broadside by the Penland School of Crafts.