With scones, clotted cream & curds

She served them tea

In Wegwood cups,

Featuring tantalizing Hibiscus designs.

Stylish angular handles welcomed even stubby thumbs;

Saucers, like deep-blue ponds, encircled each vessel.

In another life,

She’d been quite swanky:

Champagne parties, slinky skirts,

& jingle-jangle jewelry—dangling,

From her thin, pale, elegant neck.

But now,

Her parties were tame:

Small, social, afternoon affairs,

Starring sandwiches, scones, clotted cream & curds.

Chit-chat opened each outing; gossip, each close.

Weariness,

Wearing a drab cloth coat,

Chose to attend this otherwise ordinary day.

Exhaustion & Fatigue tagged along.

Next time they had tea, was at her funeral.