ginger honey lemon tea

I'm halfway through quarantine, and I was drinking some tea and realized its potential for poem material.

"If your mind is strong, all difficult things will become easy; if your mind is weak, all easy things will become difficult."

I called friends, ranted, and even felt a little like a caged animal (I mean come on, I can't leave, they bring me food, I pile trash outside my door, and I'm running in place??). After, however, I took a deep breath and noticed that I spent so much time relying on my phone to communicate with others. Thanks to finally putting my phone across the room (but not turning it off completely because oh my the Man Upstairs may need me to scan my tracker wristband), I now have a better understanding of the benefits of quiet time alone. I practically went through the five stages of grief just sitting there--denial (me walking around shaking my head hoping it's all just a dream), anger ("whyyyyyyy"), bargaining ("hmm maybe I could climb out of my window...jk jk), depression (casting my head low into another bowl of---you guessed it: rice), and, finally, acceptance (where my creative energy came through!). This poem is the product of that whole jumble.

{Side note: I cooked quinoa in my hot water kettle yesterday and it turned out pretty good! I ate in on some bell peppers with homemade guac. Anyways.}

But before you read the poem, I wanna share with you that yesterday my day was MADE!! Every night for dinner, I change my name to Agent 007 because the guys on my floor and I plan when to open our doors so we can say hey, then we FaceTime while we eat. Honestly the best part of the day (not including the meal itself---food blog post coming soon). Last night, though, I was sharing my frustrations with being in this room and saying how I was craving mac and cheese. We chatted, hung up, I took a shower, cleaned my room, chilled a bit. And then, I hear my doorbell ring and I'm thinking huh, maybe I ordered more water and they're just now bringing it? I open the door, and I see a brown paper bag with the glorious Food Panda logo on it. Okay, wrong person I guess. Well, lemme just see what room it's supposed to go to:) OMG. Mac and cheese?!?! HAS to be a mistake. Then I caught a glimpse of Josh's name and was like O. M. G GGGG and called him and George right away. "Well we wanted to celebrate your interview and I know you really wanted mac and cheese." Wow!! I'm forever grateful!

Okay, thanks for the commercial break, Zoë, but we'd like to read the poem.... Enjoy below!

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ginger honey lemon tea

ginger, a spice, neither mean nor nice--

a birthday party surprise, shock before our eyes;

boxes checked off bucket lists, jaw-dropping plot twists;

honey, from bees, thing that please--

high fives, congrats, hugs; hot cocoa mustaches from mugs;

barefoot, blankets on grass; fingers crossed as dandelions pass;

lemon, so bitter, clouds weep and pitter--

Nicholas Sparks endings; Titanic, I’ll never let you go panic;

regrets rub us raw; life follow’s Newton’s Law;

ginger gets us going, “the feels” flowing;

honey sweetens the heart: together, not apart;

lemon lingers, guilt is grasped through clenched fingers;

ginger honey lemon tea--

what life means to me