A leaf falls at our feet
We are playing in the garden
Hide and seek
We don't have a garden
Shh
It's make believe
Then Dinah and me
Will come to tea
She smiles
Clattering the cups and kettle
It hurts my head
Sharp and smart
As a kitty cat swipe
Tea shouldn’t be sadistic
I moan
Neither should breathing
She mumbles back
Busy on her mission
Checkered cloth
Victoria Sponge
Warm milky tea
She sits by the tree
Scowls and scours
Trying to find
Her story
This is curiously familiar
Don’t you think
We chew on feathers
Shoot up stars
Blue looks pretty
Wrapped around a can
Like the very best ribbons
Or big bright birthday balloons
She giggles
I breathe in
High is a bag full of cymbals
Shh
Only a grown up would know
We lie down
The grass is thick
The high is low
Tired
Dreary
Old
We should let Dinah
Chase it
She’s a very good hunter you know
She sits up
Swallows down the cake and tea
Noisily
Like mummy
Not me
I wipe my brow
Sweating out the flat line
She wipes her dress
Brushes off tentative
If there’s nothing at the end of a chase
There is very little point in starting it at all
Maybe
I say
A light shines from her fingers to her toes
In my world
You wouldn’t say ‘meow’
You’d say
‘Yes, miss Alice’
I catch the leaf
Which falls at my feet
Yes, miss Alice
I say
Smiling
Yes.
Wow! "This is curiously familiar
ReplyDeleteDon’t you think" Brilliant! All the ways this is hide and seek with a hunter and one who must be found (including a make-believe garden)--and then remembering Alice's sister reading to her under the tree when Alice chases after Dinah. Gosh. So then
"If there’s nothing at the end of a chase
There is very little point in starting it at all"
is not at all curiously like the Cheshire Cat's comment when Alice asks directions without knowing where she is going "Then it doesn't matter which way you go"! Glorious poem on its lightest and deepest level. Your depth as a writer knows no limits. Full of "cymbols." HA!
Thank you Susan - Alice is very happy to meet a fellow Wonderland adventurer.. She especially clapped when you mentioned the cymbals - j is thankful the riddle was up to scratch - phew! Thank you very much
DeleteHow I loved all your references Jae. What an entertainer you are in your poetry, inventive and humorous but with that curious feeling of sadness too.
ReplyDeleteThank you Old Egg - we tried spinning plates..it didn't end well...Thank you for always seeing both the light and dark
DeleteOh Jae i see there is company on the home front today with the naming of Dinah; tea for company and a good chase
ReplyDelete"If there’s nothing at the end of a chase
There is very little point in starting it at all"
i agree in every life there is purpose 'good poetess' a good Wednesday to you
Mine is here
Miss Pretty
much love...
Thank you Gillena - Miss Dinah and Miss Pretty - we will be over for tea shortly :)
DeleteSmiles
Delete😄💞😄
Your poem, like all of yours, is so filled with layers of one truth or question after another. Your lins always make me stop for a moment to peal the words and get to the feelings. Lovely work Jae. Just lovely!
ReplyDeleteThank you Myrna - you have got to the centre of those layers I think - our brain is like a universe size onion...never ending ouchy layers of thoughts..thank heavens there is tea..and poems for a small break at least
DeleteI'm glad you see purpose and that you can smile.Keep on smiling and find some more joy in nature.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sheilagh - we will try our best :-)
Delete"A light shines from her fingers to her toes" ah...this makes the make believe garden into a real one...
ReplyDeleteThank you Sumana - I hadn't seen that yet..thank you for lighting it up
DeleteI LOVE this poem so much, smiled all the way through. LOVE "Tea shouldn't be sadistic. Neither should breathing." Cackle. I loved the "This is curiously familiar, don't you think", too. LOVE the smile at the end. And we don't know what's at the end of the race, only know we must run. Towards brighter days. This is one of my favourites of your poems, kiddo.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sherry - for the cackle and the light - yes we will keep on shuffling - though perhaps not straight for the light just yet at least.. Thank you xo
DeletePurrrr fect Alice!
ReplyDeleteMeow says Alice which I think means thank you kindly Miss Moon ;)
DeleteSuch a homey setting for a torturous tea.
ReplyDeleteI think i need to have tea with you (other) Alice - you always know - thank you for that
DeleteI am pondering the chase without a point at the end. I think I will be pondering that for a while. Until the Cheshire Cat smiles again, I think. ;)
ReplyDeleteSorry to make you ponder Magical - imagine Chasing the dragon but further down the pharmaceutical trail? Does that help.. Thank you and sorry we are a puzzle..
DeleteLove this poem ....great images... a couple of cats chewing on feathers , shooting up stars at a sadistic tea party is my favourite LOL...!
ReplyDeleteOoh hadn't thought of it like that - Alice is brushing off our berets and hunting down the Gauloises- thank you Rallentanda :)
DeleteDoes a make believe garden have make believe weeds?
ReplyDeleteBut of course ;)
DeleteSo many great lines in this! I particularly like "Tea shouldn’t be sadistic."
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Mama Z
DeleteSo much to contemplate here, Jae, in your varied lines. I too like the idea that tea should not be sadistic (ha, especially in England).
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary - us Brits are good at moaning over our cuppas though yes..always good to stop before it hits sadistic ;)
DeleteI did feel a bit of wonderland here. Delightful!
ReplyDeleteThank you most delightfully Susan!
DeleteIf there’s nothing at the end of a chase
ReplyDeleteThere is very little point in starting it at all
Yes, it would have been a wasted effort if nothing comes off it!
Very much so Jae!
Hank
Thank you very much too Hank!
Delete"Tea shouldn’t be sadistic" This might be my favorite line of the day. Perhaps, the week. Jut perfect. And so Alice.
ReplyDeleteThank you Magaly - sometimes Alice gets it just right xo
DeleteGood to see Dinah feature rather than the more predictable Cheshire cat... This had such a nursery feel to it, Jae, although the sinister was never safely hidden away.
ReplyDeleteGood to see Dinah feature rather than the more predictable Cheshire cat... This had such a nursery feel to it, Jae, although the sinister (as always) was never safely hidden away.
ReplyDeleteNursery's can be quite sinister so I'm told..we certainly wouldn't want to be in that cradle in the trees - thank you Nicholas
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