Almond

We nibble almonds
In the afternoon sun
Drowsy as possums
Happy and full
We listen to the wind
It passes through the window
The outside drifting in
Opening up another world
Not much inclined to Wonderland
We like sharing these times
The subtle changes that happen every day
We forage in the mornings
Sleep in the afternoons
It is like a pattern
A rhythm
A sweet song we can sing to each other
When the skies turn dark
And the rain returns
Let's not think of dark days
She whispers
And so I sweep them from my mind
Embrace her
Embrace myself
For this tiny moment
With almonds on our breath
All is well.

Persistence

This is the story of the Red Queen
She was warned
She was given an explanation
Nevertheless, she persisted
Off with their heads
She booms
Alice chuckles
She knows she is safe now
No great puzzles to solve
No holes to climb out of
Well, just the hole of every day
She replies
The Red Queen says
My soul is damaged
It is not ready to leave my body
Yet
It could be tomorrow
It could be ten or fifteen years away
How curious says Alice
We are not sure whether or not it is true
But she gives us some warmth
A greeting of love across the road
Her friendship is persistent
We are glad of that
It is good to have someone to challenge
How dull life would be without confrontation
We sink into the day
Gather our potions and cake
We rather like the story of The Red Queen
It is far richer than our own.

Smoke-Drenched

We are smoke-drenched
Sitting quietly in the church
The stone one
On top of the hill
There are houses and fields below
The air is calm
Still and slightly cold
We sit on the well worn pews
Polished through countless services
They boarded up the votive box
People stole the candle pennies
How terrible the world can be
The candles store the wishes
And hopes
The dread
And the fear
We are reluctant to stand
We feel safe here
No bars at the windows
Just the gentle hum of traffic outside
We can hear the bicycle wheels turning
People moving from station to station
We will know when it is time to leave
She whispers
Until then let us be calm and still.

Questions

Is he a good kisser
Alice chuckles
And will he boil the fruit cake for tea
I do not know little cricket
We will have to wait and see
So many questions
So few answers
We live on the wind
Impossible to plan ahead
Impossible to know
But he knows you doesn't he
Of course
Hatter knows me as well as you
But you barely speak
He drinks too much tea to really talk
You are my greatest friend
Will the sun always shine
Only in the day time
At night the moon lights our room
I like night time she says
A day gone
A peaceful sleep ahead
We try not to hear the alarm
Ignore the drunken fighters on our stairs
They are not real
Or they are hyper real she says
I cannot doubt her reasoning
Are we safe
She asks
As safe as we ever can be
Do not worry little cricket
The night will come
The tea will pour
And the fruit cake will be cooked
All is as well as can be.

Chardonnay

We drink tiny sips of Chardonnay
It makes our head feel warm
And our body loose
Someone knocks on the door
It is faraway
Not important
We are locked in
Safe
This is our special time
When the room is lit by candlelight
And we eat like princesses
Filling up our tummies
Ready for a delicious sleep
The water laps gently in the bath
It grew cold hours ago
Somehow that feels fine
You have to rescue yourself
You know that don't you
I nod
Lean into her
Smell her buttery hair
Savour her soft skin
The warmth will wear off
And our bodies will grow stiff again
But there will be another time
More Chardonnay and candles.

Early Birds

Are we early birds or night owls
She asks
We are sleepers I reply
Always happy to nap in the afternoon sun
Or look out the night time window
She sips her tea and thinks
We spend too much time in the red bed
She says after a moment
The whole world is passing us by
It does not make me sad any more
Life is a feeling
Not doing
Or talking
Sleeping is like magic
Falling off the cliff edge
Deep into a peaceful slumber
There are nightmares
Of course
We find it hard to forget them
Morning is welcome after such darkness
After a long day chasing Rabbit
Night is always welcome
Then we are a fine combination
Of both
She declares
Quite satisfied
We huddle up and close our eyes.

Hush

There was a moment yesterday
When we did not talk
The silence enveloped us
Like a warm blanket
It felt soft
Intimate
We reached for each others hands
As if holding them made us real
We kept still
Wide awake
Let the light from the window
Wash over us
The sun drew scruffy lines on the white walls
It was anything and nothing
A snarl of brightness
A disturbance perhaps
We like to day dream
We like the silence
When we are ready we will talk again
Tell each other secrets and dreams
How we remember that moment
What it meant to us
How we are still together after all these years.

Contagion

Our thoughts are contagious
Stuck
Stuck
Sticky
On our fingers and hands
Inter woven
Like spider webs
They keep us hostage
We dare not reach out
For fear of passing on our misfortune
We follow Hatter
Today he is wearing his top hat
Carrying a rainbow umbrella
We carry darkness over head
We wave
Try to smile
I wonder what it would be like
Not to think
To be free
From worry and pain
But if we stopped thinking
We would no longer be
And that would be very curious indeed
She says
So we will stay
Cocooned in our web of thoughts
Trying hard not to spread the darkness.