Habit
is a little heap pf used teabags on the kitchen counter
next to a coffee machine so rarely in use
putting stains on the white counter top
and making toast crumbs stay stuck
in the drying puddle by the window
where the gauzy yellow curtains allow the sunshine in
to contrast the white of the kitchen counters
with the ugly brown stains seeping out from the heaps of teabags.
The teabags sit there out of habit
of one not so wasteful as to throw them straight away after use
whether from green awareness or pocket-coin conscientiousness
and for days the stale pouches sit, staining the white counter top.
Always, always offer a guest a fresh teabag, and throw it away after use
but your own you may keep, to heap up next to the coffee maker
and save for a second cup of tea
Should you desire a weaker brew to complement the temperate water
left over in the pot.
So leave the teabags in the little stack, staining the counter by the kitchen window
till ‘round comes the time to throw them out
and when you do, be sure to wipe the marks
lest the evidence of habit forever mar the pure white shelf.