She Sleeps With The Cheshire Catfishes

July 4th, 2021

Architectural Note:

I’ve had death on the brain lately — how it comes for all of us, even fairy tale children we know and love. I wrote a poem recently called The Death of Alice in Wonderland, which was really about my own death I feel. How as you feel it, it draws you back to your childhood in a bizarre sort of way — with the knowledge and instincts of an adult but that childish wonder you knew outgrew. This is a second poem I just wrote about Alice’s potential demise — except that this one is more of an alternate reality. What if she had drowned in the pool of her tears — which she nearly did? This poem is a cautionary tale about letting our emotions get away with us. We ourselves can be the ones we most harm when they are out of check. I relate to this lesson so much having fallen prey to this many times in my life. I’m doing a lot better as of late — perhaps why it felt safe to explore the dark ramifications of losing self control in this poem. And yes I reference the godfather in the title. Because if Alice had died this way, it was an act of violence against herself — even if she didn’t mean it. I’m trying to avoid such kinds of behaviors these days.