Stine Writing and Miniatures

W3 Prompt #192: Wea’ve Written Weekly: A Cup of Tea?

W3 Prompt #192: Wea’ve Written Weekly
https://skepticskaddish.com/2025/12/31/w3-prompt-192-weave-written-weekly/

A Cup of Tea?

Would you like a spot of tea?

No, thank you, no, not for me

Can I get you a quick snack?

If it’s tea, then you can bring it back

Perhaps a sandwich in flat bread?

That bread is harder than your head! 

Okay, then, toast, with the softest loaf

Do not bring me tea, you oaf! 

A pickled egg with stinky cheese?

How dare you ask, oh dear, please! 

A cookie and a glass of milk?

Perhaps the tea that’s smooth as silk

So, tea it is in your own cup!

That tea will make me throw right up!

Then how about an ice cream cone?

You must really leave me alone

I’m sorry, dear, I’m trying to help

Am I a bitch about to whelp?

No, my dear, go back to bed

A cup of tea might clear my head.

©2026 CBialczak

Josie’s prompt guidelines

Inspired by Frank O’Hara’s “Metaphysical Poem” (below), where nothing is decided and the talk itself becomes the drama…

Write a poem (up to 20 lines) as a conversation, text thread, or inner dialogue. Let the two voices go back and forth — negotiating, hesitating, contradicting — but never quite landing on a plan. Play with repetition and everyday details to build tension and show who these people are. Slip in small observations that make the moment feel real. And when you get to the end… leave it unresolved.

The tone is totally up to you: playful, awkward, intimate, ironic, or intense.
Optional: if you want, lean into O’Hara’s loose, casual rhythm.

25 comments

  2. I really enjoy the humor in this, Christine — all the refusals circling back to tea again and again. The dialogue feels so real, like two tired people trying and missing each other by a beat 😀

    ~David

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