A girl

this is a sestina. i hate sestinas. my creative writing teacher liked it though and i don't think it's too awful.

stepped through the looking glass, Alice

Did she see her reflection

Or did the whole rabbit hole

Experience simply make her blind.

She heard an echo, We’re all mad

Here, as she fell.

The creatures watch her fall,

And they whisper who ARE you, Alice?

And she thinks to herself, you’re all mad!

Until she looks at her reflection

And realizes she’s been blind

All along in the darkness of the hole.

But among singing flowers she forgets the whole

Epiphany she had and begins to fall

Again into unknowing, into blindness.

From the dark sprouts images of malice

And the cheshire cat’s smile merely a reflection

Of her mind gone mad.

But has she gone mad?

The definition of mad has a hole

Where her reflection

Should be, a downfall

Of sorts for naive Alice

Who thinks maybe she’s just blind.

But the creatures within her know she’s not blind.

Who ARE you? asks the Mad

Hatter as she searches, yet again, for Alice

She crawls back up the rushed rabbit’s hole,

But at the top is another fall,

And she’s forced to face her reflection.

But her reflection

Is what makes her blind.

Preconceived notions and smoke rings fall

Into her lap telling her what you see is MAD

But all she knows is she’s in a hole

and she can’t find Alice.

Her reflection makes her mad.

Confusion blinds her, and sends her down a hole.

But she should be happy to fall, and lose Alice.

Reviews

[Steven]

Once I see Alice, I immediately sigh... here we go again. BUT, this was surprisingly refreshing. Usually people get so hung up on comparing Alice's surreal dream with their own lives in all of its external pressures--but, you got all introspective with it. Dream theory. I liked it a lot.

[Dana Alsamsam]

thank you! i've always loved alice, but looked at her in a completely different way than most people seem to see her... thank you for understanding that and reading without preconceived judgement even though it was an alice poem.

[xxlheart]

very awesome

[Karl Woof Junior]

meh

[J'Eliot]

I was so bored about Alice. The same old story in different forms but this poem has definitely caught my attention and I am glad. It is really a good poem. I mean you could say.....I am speechless 'cause this is something different! :D

[Dana Alsamsam]

thank you so much! these kind words do not go unnoticed as i know that many have become bored with alice, but i've always perceived the story in a slightly different fashion. thank you for reading!

[J'Eliot]

You're most welcome! :D

[Tomahawk Joe]

interesting and complex you're very talented.

[Invisible]

never really got the whole "alice in wonderland" fad/obsession. nothing against you of course, but there are so many incarnations of that story, such as "alice underground", "alice through the looking glass", "malice", "alice: madness returns", the list goes on and on. granted there are other things that have many expansions, such as star trek, star wars, power rangers, or anything else one could mention that I can't seem to think of right now, but basically i'm saying that none of those are insane, star wars is overkilled, star trek is starting over anew, and power rangers was never that good to begin with, but alice is just a girl who has a crazy dream, what's so great about that? I have crazy dreams all the time, don't see me writing a book about it? this is what i'd say to lewis carrol and walt Disney if i'd met them. I was supposed to be giving a review wasn't I? sorry about that I get carried away sometimes. I give it an uncertain thumbs up.

[Dana Alsamsam]

this review has nothing to do with my poetry. sorry for wasting your time.

[Invisible]

sorry, I was being an a*s wasn't I? should I delete this? probably should, not being sarcastic i'm asking you honestly.

[Dana Alsamsam]

yes. i appreciate your opinion on this topic and tend to agree with some of what you said, but really this box is meant for reviews on poetry, you know? no need to make someone feel inferior because they've written about something that you personally don't enjoy.

[Invisible]

I will try and remember that. I appreciate what you're trying to do, and this poem isn't bad or anything, and honestly I think I just wanted to mention my thoughts on the subject, but somehow I came on a little too strong using feeling rather than thought.

[Dana Alsamsam]

no worries, my dear. thanks for reading anyways!

[Invisible]

yep

[Pankaj Lohia]

well.. honestly I dont know much about alice.. but the poem sounds good. its got the MAD feel to it :)

[zainul]

Sestina is a new type in my vocabulary.
Whatever you have presented is a new thing to me.
Thanks for enlightening me.
I adore your efforts :)

[Chris]

Very, very well said and spoken aloud. A good and thought-full poem as well. To meet the spirit of the sestina malice - alice, fall - fell, blindness - blind - was uniquely accomplished.

[Dana Alsamsam]

thank you very much! i appreciate your kind words so much because it took some time to puzzle those words together.

[B-poet]

The inner depths of Alice were not fitting enough towards her overall outlook in her own wonderland. An interesting read. Great job. :)