High Tea

As a child

one of my favorite activities

was high tea

at the Drake Hotel
a special treat
when my mom and I
went on Chicago adventures,
I'd throw a coin in the fountain
and make a wish,
delicately chew
finger sandwiches
perfectly sized for my child-hands,
ogle the dessert cart
(especially the cream puff swan)
although I rarely got one,
slurped sweet boundless tea
and gnawed the sublime
complimentary
raw sugar cubes,
best of all I would explore
the lush, lauded, labyrinthine
interior of that lasting landmark
lost in imagination.

O' Xanadu.