By Misti Velvet Rainwater
Date: 17 December 1999

Aching Alice

i would gladly tumble
down the rabbit hole
     again
and go through the hell
   of falling
and seeing my favorite books
but not being able
to pull them off
     the shelves
i would sip from strange bottles
and crawl through doors
and tolerate talking mice
     and cards
and rude royalty
if only i could be invited back
to your tea party
because you were
the only one
who made
any sense
your voice mattered the most
told me
it was
only
a dream
and how i wanted
to wake up
in you
swimming through
an ocean of tears
growing everyday
becoming my best
    self
you took too damn long
   coming to me
if we had met
   in the nursery
or in kindergarten
maybe we'd be
carved in stone
and i wouldn't be alone
and wondering
what the hell?