I'm so sorry for the delay on this! Headaches, hecticness and camping contributed took over rather, but here I am at last.

I love, love, love the imagery. It's vivid yet soothing, and a touch autumnal and whimsical – I get an image of a woman who, perhaps, is something of a relic of an older time – drifting, not quite sure where she fits into the future. (I could just be misinterpreting, though. XD)

That last line (which I love, btw) kind of settles that for me – Van Gogh, something from years ago, frozen. I love the combination of freedom/movement (the crows) and "frozen" in that part. It sums up the whole poem while also adding something new to it, which IMO is a perfect role for an end line.

The poem does leave me wondering who exactly "Picasso's djinn" is – she is made up of so many interesting ideas, but seems to have no purpose. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing – it does strengthen the idea of being trapped, hanging, suspended somewhat in time.

I think what leaves me feeling like it's a tad incomplete is the use of the painter's names – which I love, and don't like the idea of you getting rid of them. Without the second line, I think I'd take the image as it is – a "muse of eggshells and grandma's lace tablecloths" – practicing diviniation and brewing tea. But there seems to be more to her than that simple image – she's Picasso's djinn, what does that mean? What is her purpose, who is she? That's probably the line that – while it doesn't make no sense to me, leaves me the most curious.

Perhaps I'm over-analysing, and perhaps it's a good thing that the poem leaves much to the imagination. I don't think expanding on it would do harm, though.

Re your questions: I'm not sure I understand the Latin bit right, but the way I saw it was... that she's abandoning the scientific classification in the face of what tea leaves really are – feeling/emotion/lore rather than science/progress. I really like the sense that comes across that it doesn't matter – the irrelevance (as you say) of it. It took me a bit of a while to get it, but I think this is a poem that needs to be read slowly, to be savoured.

I think possibly the first line could be... reworked, somewhat. Of course, this is only an opinion. I like it a lot, but I don't feel that it's very strong as a beginning. Something about the structure feels odd, too. Maybe just beginning with "breathe deep" and moving the chai haze onto the Picasso's djinn line? (Through the chai haze, Picasso's djinn....) I do like how it pulls you into the poem with the scent of tea, but when compared with how strong the Picasso's djinn part is, I can't help wishing that that was the hook line, you know?

The other thing that strikes me is the number of times you end a line with a dash. It's a good device, but used four times in such a short poem, I'm not quite sure if it works to its full effect (without becoming diluted). It does build up a pattern and theme, which is nice, but by the time I get to the next-to-last stanza, quite short and broken up by two dashes, I'm getting a feeling of stop-start, or trying to draw something out for too long. Although maybe that was what you intended. It just seems a bit jerky to me. I think you could perhaps get rid of the dashes, possibly the drained tea dregs one? The one before the end is really well placed – they all are, I'm just feeling a slight excess of them.

For individual trims – I think the last line of the second stanza might sound better if it were "against the shores of South African scrublands" instead of "against the shores of THE South African scrublands" – just less clunky. I can't see anything else that needs trimming, particularly – I was slightly wary of "little red tea leaves" because of the double adjective and the slightly clunky flow when next to "irrelevant" – but I like the semi-playful tone of "little red tea leaves" – it adds something, I think.

I think the use of painters and tea works (hey, painters would drink plenty of it in their studios, right?! ) It's a curious mix of artistry and comfort that works well to create a unique atmosphere. In a way, the brewing of tea isn't so different to the creation of art, and it's certainly evocative of the style of the painting. It adds to the sense of a companion – an inspirational figure, perhaps, or helper to the artist.

Lastly, I have to say, love the sound of "dreams and drained tea dregs". Beautifully constructed.

A lovely piece, anyway – very vivid, and I think it really conveys the atmosphere of the painting – I wouldn't have immediately associated it with tea, but I can see why you did. There's so much texture in it.

Hope that helped a little!