Tea-Time
Originally appeared in Broadside, Number 6, March 1991
This is how I seize the highway by its tail
And make my dollhouse right down the middle
With roadsigns and fence-fragments I spook all barriers
Charming material past its known potential
Shaving the first sticks of my finicky mansion
With Edwardian care and suburban aplomb
Don't think I'm not cocky as I smooth the foundation
Then dress the walls like Christmas cookies
Sorting out cardigan and spools of spice
Gingerly piling tiny goodies
Prissy as a teapot about to start his lecture
I'm sorry
Unbeknownst to relentless traffic and the shimmering truckstop
I make davenports and Black Forest cakes
A spinet piano and rosewood shelves
A bisque a bar a diamond-backed fireplace
A cornflower lamp for my lonely reader
And chests-of-drawers for happy cats bounding homeward
To the mute figures of my choosing
So while some dear dumbfuck pontificates upon nothing
I'm ready for interstate tea and mannequin rump
David Thomas Roberts (1990)
