Flame under the bubbling water.  
Blue flame. Water ready for tea.
 
Amber infusion soon to be seeping, 
 
Leaves about to uncurl. Here 
Is a tin, a spoon, a cup, an open 
 
Teapot saying, Nobody else but me
 
To nobody else but you: awaken, 
Pour. What are you waiting for?
 

Copyright © 2017 by Phillis Levin. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 15, 2017, by the Academy of American Poets.