The Tea Ritual

The tea ritual:
such a precise repetition of the same gestures
and the same tastes;

accesion to simple,
authentic
and refined sensations,

a license given to all,
at little cost,
to become aristocrats of taste,

because tea is the beverage of the wealthy
and of the poor;

the tea ritual, therefore, has the extraordinary virtue of introducing
into the absurdity of our lives
an aperture of serene harmony.

Yes, the world may aspire to vacuousness,
lost souls mourn beauty,
insignificance surrounds us.

Then let us drink a cup of tea.

Silence descends,
one hears the wind outside,
autumn leaves rustle and take flight,
the cat sleeps in a warm pool of light.

And,

with each swallow,

time is sublimed.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery