I have heard that the poet, Kate Camp, uses the moments while the jug boils to learn poetry, committing new lines and invented worlds to memory.  I like the idea of holding it close, cupped in a cupped hand.

I found these hipped tulip shaped cups in the opp shop a while ago.  They sat there for weeks, passed over for the more traditional shapes. I had seen the wonderful designs that Melissa*of Tiny Happy was making and wanted to turn these forgotten cups into something more than forgotten, something similar to hers. 

I searched my husband's childhood book of poetry for verses to use.  The poems needed to be short, short lines and somehow linked in imagery. I ended up with a pair of bird poems.  Strangely, I ended up two of my favorite poets Christina Rossetti and Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Swallow and The Eagle respectively.  Tennyson's poem can be read here .  Rossetti appears to have written about swallows time and time again but here is the particular poem on this cup

The Swallow
Fly away, fly away, over the sea,
Sun-loving swallow for summer is done.
Come again, come back to me,
Bringing the summer, and bringing the sun.

I like the way the cups have turned out.  I am silently kicking myself for the misspelling on one of the cups.  I might even foolishly promise a prize to the first to spot it.  While I am still deciding between the thick and thin penmanship, I have learnt to leave the space you drink from blank.  The paint in this area has needed a few touch ups.

I'm mulling over other snippets and images to paint in words over other cups. Perhaps a poem to be broken over a teaset of cups, or something with imagery so veiled that my company might gradually blush as they realise what they are reading.

*I was saddened to read that Melissa will be stepping back from blogging for a while, but delighted to her she is taking up new studies.  I look forward to hunting out her byline one day soon.