Bowing reverently, feet unshod, hands cleansed in the lichen-covered stone basin at the entrance, harmony, respect, purity embrace chanoyu, the way of tea, in the chashitsu where sober refinement, simplicity, tranquility celebrate mellow beauty, intellectual fulfillment. Distinct from the fast pace of daily life, understanding is the route to spiritual emptiness. The ritual begins with the invitation once vivid green matcha is frothed and host, seated on a tatami mat, offers a steaming porcelain cup held in both hands.  Deep inner peace abides in the tearoom.  Meditation in motion floods the senses. Harmony of nature and self-cultivation settle within each guest as tea is enjoyed.  All too soon the resonant tone issues forth.  A gong in the garden reverberates signaling the end of the ceremony. An atmosphere of serenity cloaks the guests as they go forward into the gentle evening, stopping only to admire the heirloom scroll which hangs in the alcove, framing the Ikebana, crimson camellias in a stark white bowl. The scent of lilies floats on the soft breeze that greets them as they depart through the teahouse garden beneath the arbor of cascading wisteria. They breathe in deeply contented, grateful to their host, wander down the remote sloping mountain path winding towards the pine trees, into the harmony of nature, approach the lake lapping at the edge rhythmically, simple in its beauty. 

                      Three crooked pines stand
                             rooted in the mountainside
                                              mirrored in the lake.

Constance Wrzesniewski lives in Doylestown, PA. She writes for the Bucks County Herald. Published in several magazines, her poetry also appears in numerous journals. She participated in Making Magic: Beauty In Word And Image Exhibition in the Michener Museum, won third prize in Delaware Valley University Writers' Conference, and was second runner-up in Doylestown Bookshop Main Street Voices Poetry Contest. Watching Over My Shoulder, a chapbook, was published June, 2015, followed by As I Was Saying July, 2018.  Her latest, One More Time, came out in June, 2022.  She is a Pushcart Prize nominee.

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