An Afternoon for Tea by Penny Harter

This is an afternoon for tea—
rich red of strawberry hibiscus
deepening in a brown ceramic cup.

I delight in dunking my teabag
up and down, lowering my face
into the rising steam’s sweet scent.

On today’s escape from shelter I ride
through a graveyard, some stones so
old their dates are half-eroded.

A light rain begins to fall, darkening
the pebbled road, nurturing the newly
springing grass between the plots.

Years ago at my mother’s memorial
gathering, my toddler granddaughter
perched on someone’s marker, singing.

I hadn’t thought of that for years, but
some roads take us back, even when
they wind through greening trees.

Home again, an afternoon for tea, hands
clasped around the cup’s kind warmth—
blessed comfort sheltered from the rain.



Penny Harter writes from the South Jersey shore area. Her recent books include A Prayer the Body Makes (2020); The Resonance Around Us (2013), and Recycling Starlight (2010). A featured reader at the 2010 Dodge Poetry Festival, she has won fellowships from the NJSCA; the Mary Carolyn Davies Award from the PSA; and residencies from VCCA. Please visit pennyharterpoet.com.