There Are No Rabbits in Wonderland

I didn’t know there’d be no rabbits in Wonderland

Or that I, Alice, would wear khaki and a tan backpack

With a gift shop baseball cap

Instead of familiar blue

The truth is I don’t need to wear blue

Because blue is what I am

The same hue as the butterflies outside

And inside me too

Though I feel like some of my inside butterflies have died

And are waiting to be loved back to life by you

There are no mad hatters in Wonderland

But there are salamanders, mangoes and mangroves

Palms trees and taxi cabs

There are no roses but there are orchids

And lilies shaped like bullets

On which to bite

And Time…

Time hasn’t truly stopped but people pretend it has

And there are no talking mice here

Only mute fire ants

And tanned hands like bread-and-butter moths

Gathering the coffee and cassava at dawn

Along with the cable-knit sloths

There are no rabbits in Wonderland

And Alice isn’t who I am

And maybe blue isn’t what I am

Maybe I could be peach instead

Amber, plum, cadmium or ruby red

As a heart-shaped balloon fit for a queen

Serenely I’ll walk through Wonderland

Only this isn’t Wonderland

This is you and this is me

And unfortunately…

This isn’t a dream