HAPPINESS IN A MUG OF WARM TEA

He was fanatic for green tea.‭ ‬In particular a Chinese brand whose name translated to‭ “‬Proud Countryside‭” ‬which,‭ ‬unfortunately,‭ ‬was sprayed with American-manufactured pesticides,‭ ‬pesticides containing trace amounts of a known carcinogen‭ ‬–‭ ‬this is why the U.S.‭ ‬was pushing them on China‭; ‬in‭ ‬2003‭ ‬they became illegal to sell to American farmers so the factories simply exported‭ ‬–‭ ‬which would later give him an operable brain tumor,‭ ‬manifesting itself as acute memory loss and an aversion to commas‭ ‬or any sort of pause in his speech or writing. This made for a mesmerizing damaged monotone,‭ ‬words evenly spaced,‭ ‬devoid of intonation,‭ ‬even when excited,‭ ‬even when shouting in anger,‭ ‬which he did more often now that nobody noticed.

For even then he sounded like a robot on heroin.‭ ‬Word got around.‭ ‬People started to pay good money to hear him read Anaïs Nin books.‭ ‬B‭ = ‬O‭ = ‬R‭ = ‬E‭ = ‬D‭ = ‬O‭ = ‬M reserves a stab at the sublime.‭ ‬Back and forth,‭ ‬back and forth‭ ‬–‭ ‬but it’s hard to live in a world where you know exactly what will cause your cancer or disease.‭ ‬He didn’t then,‭ ‬in his tea-drinking days,‭ ‬and this is what explained his happiness.

3 thoughts on “HAPPINESS IN A MUG OF WARM TEA”

  1. Jace – I love this.

    It’s been too long since I’ve come around here. The (sometimes) quiet brilliance is still just as brilliant, just as refreshing. Maybe more?

Leave a Reply