Series 6｜Drinking Tea Alone

Drinking tea alone is not for lack of company.
It is because, in this moment,
you choose to let silence
hold the space
where voices might have been.

This is not loneliness.
Nor is it retreat.
It is simply that the world
has, for now,
stepped back
to where it belongs.

Tea in the cup.
You, outside it.
No conversation.
No need for confirmation.

You do not explain yourself.
You do not reach for your emotions.
You do not hand this quiet
to anyone else.

When drinking tea alone,
you play no role.
You carry no one’s expectations.
You do not even need to become
a story worth telling.

This is not tea as a companion.
It does not move closer.
It does not try to comfort.
It simply exists with you—
here,
now.

Time becomes indistinct.
No beginning.
No end.
Only you,
and the fading warmth
in the cup.

You drink slowly.
Not to taste,
but because tasting
is no longer required.

No one comes.
No one goes.
The world has not grown smaller—
it is only that
your breathing
has finally returned to you.

You sit.
The tea remains.
That is enough.