Wonderland

Untouched tea, cakes and bread.
Lines of cups, plates and chairs
But no madness to be found.

Within this abandoned tea-party,
I spot Hatter’s glimmering watch.

I hold it close, ask questions that swarm my mind.
“Where did everyone go?
Are they alright?
Why did you get left behind?”

With a mournful sigh, it replies.
“Time was generous to them,
Freed them from six o’clock.
Where they went? I do not know
I haven’t seen them since.”

I fight back tears of rage and pain,
Time really was rather cruel:
Caterpillar was nowhere to be found
And White Rabbit no longer bustling about.
Now the Hatter too, was freed from tea-time.
He closed Wonderland,
Wouldn’t let me in.

The watch speaks once more.

“Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick tock,
Every hour, day, month the same.
My hands go on and on,
Weaving a tapestry for Time,
Never allowed to step back and view it.”

Turning to the watch, I ask:
“It must be hard to know Time,
Be his subject and never be free.
Yet, I can’t help but wonder,
If change is a gift from Time,
Why does it scare me so much?”

“Same old Alice, you never did get it did you?
Time wouldn’t scare you all that much,
If only you would stop trying to beat him.
You can’t find Caterpillar but did you
Hear a soft flapping,
Feel a gentle brush of wings,
See the butterfly following you?

“Time will make you laugh and cry, Alice,
Like all good friends should.
His gift may scare you at first
But nothing lasts forever dear,
Embrace Time’s present,
I know I would.”