Category: Paul Muldoon

Paul Muldoon: “Tea”

old tea in pot (detail)

TEA
I was rooting through tea-chest after tea-chest
as they drifted in along Key West

when I chanced on ‘Pythagoras in America’:
the book had fallen open at a book-mark

of tea; a tassel
of black watered silk from a Missal;

of a tea-bird’s black tail-feather.
All I have in the house is some left-over

squid cooked in its own ink
and this unfortunate cup of tea. Take it. Drink.

—Paul Muldoon  (b. 20 June 1951)

Paul Muldoon read this poem (a favorite of mine) on Stephen Colbert’s show last night.  Watch it.  Delight.

Image: detail from old tea in a pot by harry harris