Tick, tock, goes the clock;
Alice chased the rabbit, now...
time chokeholds our thoughts.
*
-Gina C. 🧚♀️✨
***
Author's Note: Funny how Alice (we as children) chased the clock-holding rabbit (our dreams) - and now all we can think about is time.
As children, we often dream about being adults, and as adults, we often dearly miss our childhood. For this piece, I wanted to not only play into this tragic irony but also use the story of Alice in Wonderland as a metaphor. You may not have been chasing a fluffy, clock-holding white rabbit as a child - per se - but I bet you were running wildly and carefree after something.
Did you catch that something? If so, how has it affected your sense of time as an adult? Time is said to move faster and faster as we age due to the lack of exposure to shiny new experiences. In essence, the magic literally does "fade".
I love this cover picture - which I created with the help of Midjourney and took me 3 days to get right - where Alice is depicted with a clock chained to her neck; having finally caught the white rabbit. The rabbit also stands behind her as a memory. Is it one of nostalgia, or one of regret? Either way, it is time that will never come back, and also one that keeps her up at night as her days inevitably pass by.
What was my white rabbit, you ask? Definitely many things. However, as I recently explained in my poem Rare Bird, I spent a great deal of my time as a child and young adult desperately trying to find my voice. While I've finally found her through poetry, I often ask myself if the time I now spend writing could be better spent doing something else. 💜
***
I'm kinda obsessed with the Alice in Wonderland theme. If you are as well, you'll definitely enjoy this Free Form poem of mine, where I express this concept in more detail:
Thank you so much for reading! ☺️ I'm working really hard to grow my community on Vocal, so if you enjoyed this short haiku, I'd be over the moon if we could be friends and support each other here!
I reciprocate all comments, hearts, and subscriptions. :) ❤️
About the Creator
Gina C.
Achievements:
- Twice-published in Vocal's Moment of Freedom Collection:
Free-Form poet of ethereal style🧚♀️✨
Fantasy writer
A sucker for a good rhyme☺️
Fueled by a conflicted soul of fire & water
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Comments (25)
What a wonderful metaphor! This was an incredible haiku with so much truth!
Wow what a wonderful metaphor. Also great job on creating the cover picture...its so beautiful and magical .
We should all have fun. Chase the rabbit, if it signifies our dreams and goals. It's all a matter of perspective. Food for thought this one.
A lot of time I'm worried that I shouldn't be chasing the rabbit, and that I should be focusing on other endeavors. As a kid who would chase rabbits all the time in my yard, full grown and baby bunnies, the little guys are hard to catch. Regardless, it makes me wonder how much time I waste on fruitless endeavors when I should be tending to other things. Great, now I'm thinking about gardening and the garden of Eden. My family always had a nice garden, growing up. On more than one occasion we'd have baby bunnies in our garden. Baby bunnies meant hungry momma bunnies. However, the bunnies left (and so did the chipmunks and squirrels) when we got a cat, that patrolled the garden. Produce was good. Still, that's not just saying that there are other people or being more suitable to the task of chasing the white rabbit while You go after Your proverbial white whale, but when it comes to the garden, just like in Eden, the rabbits may eat some of Your produce, but they're not the main concern. The concern is the snakes within the garden. The snakes may have come for the rabbits, but a strike to Your foot is still just as lethal as starvation during winter months when nothing grows. Rabbit stew may be nice, but we should make sure that we aren't allowing ourselves to be stricken by other things that could set us back even farther.
Great haiku! But I am also obsessed with your AI art. All your photos are amazing!
Absolutely stunning- love this! ❤️
Thought provoking and beautiful <3
Powerful and dark. I enjoyed it as well as your Author's Note. I am farther along in my journey but still asking myself the same question.
Ohhh that last line is suffocating!!!! Very well done 😁☝️☝️☝️🤩
Beautiful haiku. Love the alice theme so much
Beautiful. I love the Alice in Wonderland theme. It does really make one think about how we are chained to the concept of time.
Nice 👍
Wonderful. Full of wonder !!
I love it! It's so whimsical which is something that makes Alice in Wonderland so fun and beautiful, but the ending is gripping and darkly contrasts with the whimsy of the first two lines.
I love the insights shared :)
Wowwww! Your Haiku, just 17 syllables but it spoke so much. Loved the Alice in Wonderland metaphor and the cover pic. Both held such deep meaning! I chased a lot of things, some was necessary and some were not. The rabbit standing behind me is definitely regret, lol!
I was just recently reading something about the Alice in Wonderland effect in relation to time and perceptions, this is a lovely haiku! I love your notes at the end as well, great work!
Chased many rabbits, caught a few, missed some but over time it’s all evened out, I think 🤷🏻♀️, regardless Gina, this is excellent, see ya on the dark side of that moon, bravo, 😀
This...okay...this is weird. I've been trying to get the same idea into a haiku for a few days. I couldn't find the right in, then I couldn't find the right words. I am glad of all people to have done something I wanted to get across were you? This was a masterpiece. I know I say that a lot. I don't mean it to sound like it is devoid of meaning. But in three little lines of text, you just nailed the point. I just could go on and on. Maybe I will when it gets TS as it should do. And as even Emily said, when it wins, which it should. I love the Alice in Wonderland reference points in your work. Honestly. You are like the poetic gift that keeps on giving. Just. Yeah. And as much as your voice and formatting make it your work and shine, it's all the effort you put into explaining it too. Rather than making it sound like your just rambling. It just shows how much goes into such a small piece of writing. Bravo, Gina. Bravo.
Oh my gosh Gina I could gush about this for several paragraphs!! First LOVED the actual Haiku but also absolutely adored the after notes! I am in love with lewis Carroll and Alice in wonderland (and through the looking glass!) I read the several times as a child and plan to read them again this year! This was so wonderful I personally think it should win hehe 😊😊😊💚💚💚💚💚💜💜💜💜💜💜❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Oh that cover art is exquisite! And I love how you used so few words for this clever, smart piece. I'm a sucker for your afterwards and really enjoyed this one so much.
Wonderful piece, and the afterthought sum it up so well.
Beautiful haiku. Thought provoking. “ I often ask myself if the time I now spend writing could be better spent doing something else.” Said every great writer in the history of the world. If I was allowed a vote, I would resoundingly say No!
nice poem mam , please read my article mam im from india ,a high school boy 👦
I love hearing about the time and thought that go into your works!! ❤️❤️