A Gothic Victorian Tea Party and Poetry Reading

You...
of the heart tattoos in places unmentionable,
lipstick and matching nail polish
in nightshade or abyss
...enter here...
and indulge in the celebration of crimson and ebon..
join our sacred salon of sisterhood

the samovar steeps a tea of
exceptional fragrance and flavor tonight
please share a cup with us as we ask for silence
the poetry reading is about to begin...


depth of red, barely visible through the dark
a firefly in crimson descends to the edge of the teacup
in the aether
a plume of red,
brighter,
rises
first the deeper essence of tea
the black tulle veil through which the other flavors are visible
the dark, sweet notes of black cherry
velvet so dark, it is nearly black
bleeding into the red purple of plum
intense dark and light, all at once
followed by the flash of grenadine organza
bright red in flavor, scent, essence
and meanwhile...
a fantasy rock performance slithers from a radio,
lit from within
a cover of a Runaways classic,
Meg White’s primative drums,
Chrissie Hynde’s searing guitar
And from the voice of Siouxie Sioux: “Ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb”!
black and white notes
in a depth of red, barely visible through the dark




(This post was inspired by the fabulous Roller Girl Tea from Opus Oil's Jitterbug Perfume Parlour. Deviously delicious. And iced, with a bit of lime? Sinfully sublime.)


My thanks to all the wonderful artists whose collage sheets, clip art sites and blogs that I use in my work:
Jerry (Shadowhouse Creations),
Josie (Charmed Memory Collage),
Kirsi (Itkupilli),
Marsha (Tumble Fish Studio),
Julia (Cemerony)
and
Karen (The Graphics Fairy)
and of course, a big thank you to
Lili and Kedra of Opus Oils!
(Don't forget to check out Kedra's fascinating blog Scents of Imagination.)


...And just when I was about to serve tea and no sweet today (Oh! the shame of it!), this showed up in my e-mail box from the venerable House of Pierre Hermé, a delicious-looking pastry in flavors ranging from black, to purple, to red: his Fetish Envie!
It starts with a dacquoise base, which is an interesting meringue made with almond flour, so that it is vaguely similar to a macaron, with slivered almonds, black current compote, a vanilla cream, scented with violets and decorated with red fruits...because roller girls or rock and roller girls all love to have a little something with their tea!