Mad As A Hatter Poem by Edith Niemeyer

MAD AS A HATTER

Ode to the One That Took All My Stitches

[Verse 1]
Mad as a hatter,
but sane enough to know,
something turned my whole world
where worlds ain't meant to go.

Upside right and backwards,
sideways through the door,
I landed on the ceiling
and went looking for the floor.

I had my feet beneath me,
had my compass, had my north—
then you came along laughing
and shook the whole thing forth.

[Pre-Chorus]
I was steady as Gibraltar,
stone against the sea,
till you moved the Rock of Gibraltar
right out from under me.

[Chorus]
Oh, here's an ode
to the one who took my stitches,
pulled them one by one
and left me hanging by my britches.

You turned my world upside right,
then spun it wrong-side through,
and somewhere between crazy and sane
I lost my footing over you.

Mad as a hatter—
madder still because it mattered.
I wasn't broken when you found me...
but Lord, you left me scattered.

[Verse 2]
My marbles filed for freedom,
my common sense packed light,
reason caught the midnight train
and vanished out of sight.

The clock forgot its ticking,
the mirror changed its face,
and every straight and narrow road
went crooked at your pace.

You never needed dynamite,
a hammer, pick, or chisel—
you just smiled at my Gibraltar
and somehow made it fizzle.

[Chorus]
So here's an ode
to the one who took my stitches,
left the needle on the table
with a pocketful of wishes.

You turned my world upside right,
knocked north clean into south,
left half my good intentions
hanging sideways from my mouth.

Mad as a hatter—
madder still because it mattered.
I wasn't broken when you found me...
but Lord, you left me scattered.

[Bridge — half spoken, half sung]
Now where'd that rock go?

I swear it was right here.

Big old Gibraltar.

Solid.

Dependable.

Immovable.

...apparently not.

And if anybody happens
to find my last remaining marble—

don't touch it.

I'm saving that one.

[Final Chorus]
Here's my ode
to the one who took my stitches,
to the beautiful catastrophe
that threw me in the ditches.

You turned my world upside right,
then left without a sound,
and somehow took Gibraltar
while my back was turned around.

Mad as a hatter,
patched with laughter, bruised with matter—
you can keep the thread you stole from me.

I'll sew myself together.

[Outro]
One stitch crooked.
One stitch true.
One for me...

and none for you.

Mad as a hatter?

Maybe so.

But Gibraltar's growing back.