lipton

(after Ariana Brown)

if unsweet tea qualifies as tea, if a flavorless mug of leaf water, is drinkable, and digestible with a

genuine smile on the face, the kind of smile the makes cheekbones and eyes touch and eyebrows

wrinkle – not the uncomfortable kind of doughy smile – the ones where teeth sparkle softly and

giggles spill out on accident – and another cup is able to be consumed after, sugarless, bitter,

steeped in boiled tap and risking a burn to the hand for stirred tasteless body into unseasoned

cartridge finally flavoured with ice cube and travesty, then maybe i’m not as sad as i thought i

was and the birds are worth chirping for and singing to like snow white and the sun is still the

sun and it is shining, shining, shining on the red undertones of my southern beauty reminding me

that i am alive and if unsweet tea, depression in every sip, qualifies as tea, then it means i am

able to sweeten my tea as a reminder that life is to be lived and tea is to be sweeter.