ode to iced green tea
I drink you in the afternoon, when I’ve told myself
it’s too late for coffee. A splashy cooler from the sun but
not so Southern. I drink you & wonder if this is healthy,
picture the Chinese restaurant my parents took us to
its red walls with delicate gold foil, bulky black menus like the others,
that time the owner placed the piping hot kettle onto our table as I ask
what Chinese people eat for breakfast & everyone laughs & the owner
says whatever they want & everyone laughs some more &
I wonder what’s customary for small families like mine to eat for breakfast
on the other side of the world, as I sip you subtly sweet green tea
Katherine Shehadeh is a poet who resides with her family in Miami, Florida. Her recent poems appear/are forthcoming in Laurel Review, Maudlin House, Cordite Poetry Review & others. Find her on Instagram @katherinesarts.
I drink you in the afternoon, when I’ve told myself
it’s too late for coffee. A splashy cooler from the sun but
not so Southern. I drink you & wonder if this is healthy,
picture the Chinese restaurant my parents took us to
its red walls with delicate gold foil, bulky black menus like the others,
that time the owner placed the piping hot kettle onto our table as I ask
what Chinese people eat for breakfast & everyone laughs & the owner
says whatever they want & everyone laughs some more &
I wonder what’s customary for small families like mine to eat for breakfast
on the other side of the world, as I sip you subtly sweet green tea
Katherine Shehadeh is a poet who resides with her family in Miami, Florida. Her recent poems appear/are forthcoming in Laurel Review, Maudlin House, Cordite Poetry Review & others. Find her on Instagram @katherinesarts.
