Doug Tanoury

THE PHYSICS OF TEA

Sitting in the living room
drinking tea with her and
talking about special relativity
and the fact that the most distant
galaxies are racing away from us
at 80% of the speed of light and
as she considers this
 
pulling a wayward strand of hair
from her face, she begins to twirl it,
worrying it between her fingers, and
I am touched by the girlishness
of this gesture, as she says very seriously:
"Gravity is a fear of being alone."
I laugh,
 
setting my tea down on the table
hearing the percussion click
of a china cup meeting the saucer and
as she smiles the freckles on her cheeks
gravitate together in Newtonian fashion
and I know what holds everything together.

Date of Birth: March 1954 Location: Detroit, Michigan Occupation: Consultant Email: dtanoury@comcast.net Website: http://home.comcast.net/~dtanoury1/Tanoury.html

- February 2004 - La Niņa, Arizona Sympathetic Magic Plans for Bringing Back a Dead Baby Ghosts The Blessing of the Egrets The Physics of Tea