Teapot Poem
This teapot, a gift for you,
sat on your kitchen table.
Later, we shared it, together.
Now, it sits alone, with me.
© Ken Chawkin
Fairfield, Iowa
May 1, 2016
Scroll down to Responses (5th) to read how this poem came about.
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The Uncarved Blog 
May 14, 2016 at 9:33 pm |
Love teapots – and this poem….
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May 16, 2016 at 3:18 pm |
What a talent Ken. Keep it up for all to enjoy. As Maharishi would say.
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August 2, 2016 at 7:41 pm |
[…] Related: An Unwanted Guest | Dementia Blues | Teapot Poem by Ken Chawkin […]
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June 30, 2017 at 2:03 am |
[…] I lovingly cared for her, and experienced joy when we were together, even as I continued to grieve and worry about her when we were apart. It also fulfilled a lifelong desire to experience what […]
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December 31, 2018 at 6:47 pm |
I was sitting alone at the kitchen table deeply depressed about what was happening to Sali. She was living in a care facility because of her dementia. I felt one way to deal with this unbearable depression was to write something. But expressing how down I was feeling would only result in emotional drivel. Then I remembered about and searched for an inspiring quote about poetry by Chinese Song Dynasty poet and scholar, Wei T’ai. (5th Century BC). He had taught how to convey emotion without spelling it out.
“Poetry presents the thing in order to convey the feeling. It should be precise about the thing and reticent about the feeling, for as soon as the mind responds and connects with the thing the feeling shows in the words; this is how poetry enters deeply into us.”
I made some tea, and then thought of the history of this little teapot before me. I wrote a short 4-line poem that told the story of a relationship over time. I felt it conveyed my feelings indirectly. It worked, and surprisingly, I felt elated having written something so succinct that conveyed the sad, lonely emotion. I was no longer depressed. Writing a good little poem is the best medicine!
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April 13, 2020 at 1:33 pm |
About 6 years earlier, in the presence of my muse, Sally Peden (Sali), I showed her how easy it was to write a haiku, which extended to this tanka, “Cold Wet Night.” https://theuncarvedblog.com/2011/01/06/cold-wet-night-a-tanka/
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January 7, 2021 at 2:25 am |
[…] seven-haiku poem, Coalescing Poetry: Creating a Universe; and Haiku on The Nature of Haiku. This Teapot Poem came about as a result of putting Wei T’ai’s advice into […]
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