while the tea cools

through invisible tears, I notice nothing
but an absent pain that should paralyze me
the cat covets birds visiting his balcony
a pot of green tea cools
I answer the phone and console a weeping friend
life returns to a calmer pace
and I know in the years to come 
a larger hole of loneliness will slowly befriend and tame my grief


while the tea cools
[2012.8.1...b]