Remembering Auntie's house and our tea time memories
Every Sunday afternoon I was invited to Auntie's house for tea
outside where the sun shone like a thousand crystal watts
a lovely table set for two, plus two wicker chairs of white
every Sunday, we would sip and slip away the hours happily
The table was adorned with a bouquet of pink peony roses
o'er a lacey cotton doily with soft fit lace edges of beauty
As they bloomed they scented the air around us with grace
sending us coral dreams with their bright pink glow dance
Tiny social tea biscuits placed lovingly on a tray of silver
awaiting a child's excited dunk on a hot summery day
July was my favorite time of the year with its hot spell
it brought forth the memory of iced water and lemon
Auntie wore a floral perfume called Channel No Five
but of course to me it smelled like black licorice
To a young girl passing on thirteen a tea time affair
can be grand, I smiled as she read me, Baudelaire
MYSTIC, THIS AWESOME PICTURESQUE SCENE YOU'VE PAINTED IS FILLED WITH THE LOVE, PEACE AND TRANQUILITY FEW OF US HAVE EVER KNOWN. I HAVE ENJOYED THIS PEEK AT YOUR KEEPSAKE MEMORIES WHICH YOU HAVE SHARED IN A WONDERFUL ARTISTIC RENDERING. IT HAS A LINGERING ESSENCE...SO APPRECIATED. LOVE, BLESSINGS AND FAITH...HIS+INSPIRATIONS
You certainly had an introduction to genteel living and the finer arts thanks to your auntie and her insistence on having her niece join her for Sunday tea and a reading of Baudelaire.
My Sunday dinner was mom's fried chicken. There was always a dessert, but no tea except sometimes during the week at lunch. Then, it was bounding out the door and taking advantage of a Sunday afternoon while the sun shone. I believe my sister and her girlfriends did have teas without adults around and ate, figuratively not literally, mud pies with their watered down tea.
You are so fortunate to have your auntie around to give you adult lessons that you never forgot.
Such a delicate and delightful poem Vienna…
You have captured the atmosphere so expertly
with your well chosen words…
Tea with Auntie on a sunny Sunday,
…Chanel No 5, peony roses,
and tiny biscuits to dunk…
What could be a more pleasant way
To pass the time…!
Very visual, Vienna. A great memory. I'm thinking that Charles Baudelaire was kind of intense poetry for a young girl to try and assimilate. Perhaps though, it was what planted seeds in you to write. Hope you're well. Enjoyed this. r
As a young man we didn't do tea with our aunts but more often than naught our uncles would get together for beer in the backyard and how can you say no to beer. Great capture of your subject Rose...
Fee
oh gosh, your poem just sent me back to some childhood memories. i used to do that when i was kid, dunk cookies on my hot choco. i missed those days. thank you.
It's almost Christmas. Lynn Basil is writing her last book about a secret entrance into the magical doll land of Sha Bebe that she loves so much. Bagannos have taken over the world! Lynn finally meets her dolls in real life. Can she write in a Secret
The familiar lament of dual-career parents raising children is, "I just can't do it all." The Libra Solution provides an alternative - a more satisfying and sustainable work and life approach - to the overwrought modern day norm.
Share
Print
Save
Follow
My Sunday dinner was mom's fried chicken. There was always a dessert, but no tea except sometimes during the week at lunch. Then, it was bounding out the door and taking advantage of a Sunday afternoon while the sun shone. I believe my sister and her girlfriends did have teas without adults around and ate, figuratively not literally, mud pies with their watered down tea.
You are so fortunate to have your auntie around to give you adult lessons that you never forgot.
Ron
Regis. 🙏🌳🌷🌲🦋
You have captured the atmosphere so expertly
with your well chosen words…
Tea with Auntie on a sunny Sunday,
…Chanel No 5, peony roses,
and tiny biscuits to dunk…
What could be a more pleasant way
To pass the time…!
Perfect!
Diana…🍃
Fee