He keeps time
in the front of his hat,
a clock that ticks sideways
and only when it wants to.
The books beneath him
lean like secrets,
each spine a doorway
he’s already wandered through
and rearranged.
He laughs softly,
as if the world
is a riddle he solved
years ago
and misplaced the answer
on purpose.
His silk hat glows
with borrowed moonlight.
His shadow stretches
longer than logic.
And his smile~
that crooked invitation~
suggests that madness
is simply wonder
without its manners.
If there’s a message,
it’s hidden in the ticking:
time isn’t the master
of Wonderland.
It’s just another guest
at the Hatter’s table,
pouring tea
into the wrong cup
and pretending
it meant to.
nine of
cupside gold-
en dairies married
silken maid-
ens down to
squeezing milk men pleas-
ing through the
only
partly
wide and open castle doors
In the children’s ward of a hospital,
Through the W.P.A.*
A 16-panel mural
Was, for patients, on display.
The artist, Abram Champanier,
In 1938,
Took the Lewis Carroll characters
From “Alice” to create
A tale of Wonderland’s whole cast
As they visited each site
Of the city of New York
To fill the children with delight.
So there on Lady Liberty,
The subway and the zoo,
The Empire State and Steeplechase,
Are Alice and her crew.
The building was abandoned
After years and it was marked
For a renovation, so a group
Of volunteers embarked
On a plan to save the murals,
Which they managed to preserve.
Our gratitude is not enough
To give what they deserve.
The restoration took some years
And now they are on view.
A museum** in New York is where
I saw them; so can you.
How wonderful to have a chance
To see each vibrant scene
And to reinforce the joy of art
And how much it can mean.
*Works Progress Administration
**Museum of the City of New York
Your beauty is almost blinding
as you glide across the floor.
Remembering our last embrace,
I ache within my core.
Its time to visit wonderland,
you know I have the key.
Whispering enchanted words,
I wish to set you free.
I'll raise you with my tender arms,
suspend you in my realm.
Quivering you'll enter bliss,
let passion overwhelm.
We'll dive into each other's eyes,
ignite the flame of truth.
Delivering love's scorching heat,
perfection sought from youth.
I'll break the chains that hold you,
bring ecstasy refined.
Devouring, bodies aglow,
our minds and souls entwined.
I'll take you to the mountain top,
together breathe the air.
Perspiring, we'll both let go,
undying love I'll swear.
winter found its way
midst icy mists of snowfall
and its bas relief
of abstract patterned snowflakes
to please young and old with its
centurys-old splendor
as trees of lights and tinsel
light boughs of fresh pine
with hints of forest faeries
A wonderland complete in
its snowman sculptors
with rosy cheeks and big smiles
that beckon singers
round fireplace remembering
many prefer the summer
some of us prefer summer
Winter wonderland through the Alps.
Fabulous romantic lovers' trip of a lifetime.
Mesmorizing memories to last forever.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 3rd place 2025
the sun is in the fair east
my sorrows are not yet at my back
i look up at the joyous heavens
i have no grief nor lack
my wonderland is here
trinkets made from silver and gold
time is of the essence you see
for I only have a day to mold
my garden is my own
made from the petals of the sky
it grows in the chambers of the mind
spilling into life with endless supply
i build castles of ice and frost
only to melt them at repeat
with many battles and throngs
and mind games that shout no defeat
i am soft to the touch but wild in play
tomorrow I know will come soon
and i will have to harden with
the tide of the changeling moon
The revolving season’s ever-changing sensitive facade
dons the new ambiance of hues designed by nature.
Autumn’s fiery foliage bursts with mélange of colors,
shines with the last golden glow as the wilted leaves fall.
The aureate leaves hear the December wind’s whisper
as they crumple with the rhythm of the attuned rustle,
composing the melody of the song of winter wonders
that beguiles me as the mist melts in the sapphire sky.
The defoliated trees shiver in the waves of arctic wind,
following its flow I see you return to me from the cold.
You melt the miasma enveloping my glacial memory,
enter the crypt of old times through the icy door I open.
The polar winds blow with chilled tunes across the clouds,
swans fly singing in the December sky on wings of winter.
The morning mist melts away over the sunrise horizon,
gleaming with joy spectrum of Christmas time in the air.
I feel delighted the warmth of winter sun you raise for me,
from behind the fog I see the ascent of a new dulcet dawn.
As I hold your hands, ecstasy defrosts the memory lane,
my mind wanders in the winter wonderland of December.
She followed a rabbit
stitched from stardust,
leaping between planets
like lily pads of light.
A comet brushed her cheek
a whisper,
a secret,
a scent of home long gone.
Her dress,
woven from constellations,
twirled in zero gravity,
threads unraveling into galaxies.
The wormhole found her.
Not a door,
but a pulse,
a soft tear in the silence. She stepped in.
Light bent like memory.
Time folded into origami.
She became
a thought,
a chord,
a gasp inside the cosmos.
When she landed,
a planet blinked.
Rings spun like teacups.
A queen in a glass crown said:
“Wonderland was never down.
It was always above.”
And Alice
floating,
smiling,
rewrote the stars
with her finger.
At the miracle of low tide
in the glitter of an afternoon
the sun bestows its magic
on every grain of sand
And seashells come out
to play and sunbathe
enchanted on the beach
with awe and whimsy
AP: Honorable Mention 2026, Honorable Mention 2025
I want you
I want to
I want more
To wait for
The day when
We both can
I’ll daydream
Until then
I often think
In darker times
It's pointless toil
Creating rhymes
For what do rhymes
Achieve, and such?
Perfection strives
For words to clutch
Some faint idea
Some headlocked chat -
It smiles, then fades
Like Cheshire Cat
Chasing thought
Down rabbit hole
Succeed or fail
No heads will roll
From bitter world
To jammy tart
Where sweetness lives
In printed heart
No grumpy queen
No neckline threats
Beguiling words
This soul begets
Perhaps, in time
Simplistic notion
Can be transformed
With the right potion
Perhaps, if time
Allows, we will
Through heartfelt words
Our dreams fulfill
The fruit smoothie spun on the smoothie machine,
as I looked out the window at large snowflakes falling to the ground
I watched, as I was led into a peaceful trance
No thoughts to weigh me down, a light moment lifting my heart
Later, I went outside where the snow had turned to small flakes
They were like tiny pebbles bouncing on the grass
- A winter wonderland in spring -
Heidi Sands
4/8/25
(C)opyright
Poem of the day 4/9/25
Still lost-
Even more than Alice
Can't seem to find a way out this
All i been searching for is happiness
But each way I try is disastrous
Playin different characters like an actress
I've worn a mask for so long
Been everyone bt me
No need to practice
All I've done my whole life is pray
Just to get past this
This whole world is plastic
Every where I look
People either holding donation baskets
Or overflowin caskets
Ain't no way I can stay calm
The sht way too blasphemous
Every breath I take is cancerous
Tryna figure out what kinda trance this is
Or if I'm almost out of my dwindling chances
When I stumbled upon Alice's hole,
I felt an overwhelming joy envelop my soul.
With little fear of harm or peril,
I could now crawl into the tale of Lewis Carroll,
and be an eyewitness to that fantastical rigmarole.
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