A Cup Of Tea

If a cup of some
store-bought tea leaf-dust
is enough to calm you, you should

make a cup. If a moment
before the window, staring into
dirty city snow at drab birds,

is enough to make you feel
a stab of peace, by all means
be seated with your cup 

before the window. It’s OK
to turn off the news for a moment
and pretend that there’s nothing

to worry about, nothing to be done.
It’s all going to be terrible for a while yet
and there’s a lot for each of us to do —

but here you are and here’s the tea 
and those sparrows and no sun out there
so the gray snow for once matches the sky

and there’s no immediate war to fight —
sit, have a moment, no matter how engaged
your life has been you have a right

to stop now and then, to see now and then a reason
to turn back to the news and the struggle
and the work.  See how they are, those birds —

they often stand completely still
for a few seconds at a time
and still manage to fly when they need to fly.