if you carry a cup of tea my friend

across a crowded room

and on the way your arm is bumped

by a thoughtless person or two

 

then out of the cup will slosh

not water or juice or coffee

–but tea

 

your cup may be paper

or styrofoam

or ceramic

or glass

or the finest of porcelain even

 

it might be decorated bright

or be the plainest of plain

the outside of the cup

is not so much what matters

 

because if tea is what’s inside

then when knocked

[as often teacups are]

then tea is what will slosh

 

and i ask you this

[and i ask my own self too]

what is it that splashes out

when you become jarred

or bumped or pushed

a little too hard

 

what is in your cup

that might spill out

all over whomever

happens to be near

 

being jostled from time

to time

is unavoidable

but you can be in charge

of what is inside

 

–this is an important matter to monitor and ascertain

(metaphor borrowed from society at large]

 

Heather Pound 2024

Photo by Rodolfo Marques on Unsplash