Little Alice By Harmony Ray Poem by Claire Bara

When Alice fell down the rabbit hole
And walked into a room she was too big for
A glass bottle sat on a table demanding her to drink it
Alice didn't trust this bottle she didn't know
But being too much for the room she was in she saw no other choice

Shrinking smaller and smaller to fit what she was placed in
Alice came to a door she was now small enough to fit through
Opening to a garden and a smiling cat
"Who are you" the cat asks
I'm alice
He asks again as if alice didn't just say her name
As if he didn't even hear her
I'm alice
"Are you? "
Yes, I know who i am
"Do you? "
Alice starts to wonder if this cat is listening to her
If he even cares that she is right in front of him
I don't know where I am, could you point me in the direction of how to get back home
The cat just laughs and disappears into a fading smile
Confused and lost, Alice picks a path and travels down it
Wandering through a garden she has been made too small for
Alice comes to a clearing
Where a table made for a feast sits
The table towers over Alice's head
At it sits three men,
Whose gazes fall upon her
"Who are-
For the third time today, Alice says her name
But this time is invited to the table
She notices the men are much bigger than her small frame
So she sits where she is told

The men at the table introduce themselves as the hare, the white rabbit and the hatter
Alice opens her mouth to say it is nice to meet them but is immediately spoken over
The table quickly becomes a whirlwind of these men speaking over each other
Like a contest for who could be the loudest
Alice is irritated by this rudeness but sits quietly
Alice has never liked being spoken over
Or ignored
Yet every man in her life has done both
Walked all over her
Acted as though she wasn't there
When her father sent her to etiquette classes he said it was so she could learn her place in a man's world
Alice could feel her blood boiling
The men shouting senseless things
Alice staring at her hands realizing she had yielded
Made herself small out of habit at this table
Alice took a breath
Thought of her father
Alice was not small
Finally, Alice stood up
I have been walking all day
The men became quiet
If you could please tell me how to get home, I would like to go now
The men looked at each other
Pointed to a door in a tree
It was Alice sized
Normal Alice sized
Alice stood
Feeling herself grow back to herself, no strange liquid needed
she opened the door
Walked back into her own garden where her book lay by her favorite tree
Alice wasn't small
And she wouldn't be again.