How to Drink Tea

1. Earth
Plant a seed on a misty mountainside
then meditate for a long time
until the plant that grows from the soil
tells you it is ready.

2. Air
Take your basket of leaves to a good breathing place,
spread them beneath the sky,
and touch them with your palms
until they tell you they are warm.

3. Fire
Watch lightning bloom an ancient tree into a blazing pyre
and see beauty instead of death.
Collect the fire in your trembling hands
and carry it to safer ground.
Feed it slowly until it tells you it is full.

4. Water
Gather rain from a clean and shivering riverbed
in a pot that knows how to remain still.
Lay your warm and ready leaves inside the pot,
and lay the pot inside the flames.
Listen to the water
until it tells you it is laughing.

5. Soul
Drink until you become more earth than bone,
more air than breath,
more fire than ash,
more water than blood.
When your cup is empty, fill it
until it tells you it is no longer thirsty.