One by one, Alice put away;
All of her childish memories
None but one, Remain to this day
Of childhood fantasies.

Day by day, Weeks stretched into years.
Wonderland faded from recall.
Who's to say, The unicorn's tears
May yet restore them all?

Drop by drip, out where none could see
Alice had saved them in a jar.
One small sip, labeled just "Drink Me"
And back she'll go to the land baiarre.

Each by each, children slowly raised
Without one tale of a land so.Far...
Nor'd she speak, ne'er of childhood days
Nor of a certain , well hidden jar.

Night by night, she would lie awake.
Scared of sleep to her very soul.
'Waked by fright,her beating heart would race
A nightmare of a rabbit's hole.

Six by one, Alice did resist
An urge from yet another world
Time had come, and gone in a split
Oh dear Lord, Save the dreaming girl!

Tock and tick, a night quite mundane
Alice thought naught of what she had done
One long sip, she must be insane
Through the looking glass she did run

There, On the other side, Out in plain view:
Not even trying to hide, sat not one but two;
Rabbits or Hares fretting about the time!

She knew where she was, yet why was she there?
Surely she was too old, to big, too well grown
To be chasing after an elusive hare?

Try as she may, resist as she might
The urge to give chase was too strong to fight
She gathered her strength; bundled her nerve
"I will will give those rabbits the spanking they deserve!"

She started to run but suddenly stopped
like a mighty oak that's just been dropped.
"where am I going? Something is wrong"
"Perhaps it's time the children came along?"

©1996 JCJenkins (copyright reserved)