Once upon a time,

On an ordinary day,

I pondered to myself

Whether or not I ought to make a daisy chain.

Was the effort of rising,

On a summer day, hot,

Worth the pleasure of tying

Daisy stems into knots?

My sister was reading,

Her book with no pictures,

 While I was off dreaming

Of a land far more richer.

Down a rabbit hole twisting

Past cabinets and yams,

Where in a hall past a curtain

Was a tiny door jamb.

A key on the table,

A cake and a drink,

One made to grow,

And the other to shrink.

Past the door a grand garden,

With many a bloom,

But I squandered my uses,

And I did feel a fool.

I cried a small ocean

And came away with no praise,

I spoke with a mouse,

And ran a Caucus Race.

But I mentioned my cat,

And off my friends ran,

But along came the White Rabbit,

Where this story began.

I went back to his house,

In search of gloves of white kid,

And along with a corked bottle,

Found them, I did.

Uncorking the bottle

And back-tossing my head,

I soon was up-growing

And was scaring lizards almost-dead.

I found a small cake,

And myself getting smaller,

And I ran from the house

Before I could get taller.

Out in a wood,

I met a caterpillar blue,

Smoking a hookah,

And asking “Who are you?”

After a long conversation

That went round and round,

He told me to eat the mushroom where he sat

To get myself off the ground.

Back at my own,

Proper height,

I found a small house,

I couldn’t call upon them till my size was smaller and right.

I nibbled my mushroom

Till I was nine inches tall,

Then noticed the animals,

Their clothing and all!

Footmen were creatures,

A frog and a fish,

To get into the house

Just then was my only wish.

I slipped inside after a shattered plate,

To the inside filled with spice,

Where a Duchess held a screaming baby

And we all sneezed once, twice, and thrice.

The baby turned to a pig,

When I learned of cat smiles,

And the cat told me to go see a Hare or a Hatter,

Not too many miles.

Said the cat with a grin, 

“We’re all mad here,”

Before I walked on my way

Feeling a slight bit of fear.

I found a long table,

Set with many seats,

But cramped around one corner

There sat only three.

A riddle was told

But never did I guess,

While the Dormouse was sleeping,

In quite a deep rest.

With the Hare and the Hatter

Round the table I went,

Till we found a clean cup

And my patience was spent. 

We talked about Time,

And how he went by,

Till rudeness set me off,

And I bid them good-bye.

Now back to the hall

I went in a huff,

And found my way to that garden,

It certainly took me long enough!

There were cards painting flowers,

Turning white roses red,

If they didn’t they feared

They would all lose their heads.

I played croquet with a Queen

Who was decorated with hearts,

Though it seemed to me

She wasn’t fit for the part.

I spoke again with the Cat

And it’s disconcerting grin,

While the Queen wanted to execute everybody,

If she did not win.

I walked with the Duchess

From the house with the pepper,

And I think that in soup

Pepper causes hot tempers.

I met a Gryphon and Mock Turtle

Who told his story in tears,

Had there not been a trial,

I’d have been there for years.

There was a great trial,

With very odd proceedings,

The judge asked for the verdict

After the accusation-reading.

The Hatter was the first witness

In the case about the tarts,

In this quite-ridiculous proceeding

Where the judge was the King of Hearts.

I found myself growing

While the witnesses were called

Until I was quite so large

That with my skirt I tipped over the jury-stall.

After my testimony and a fuss

With a great hullabaloo,

I and the witnesses were released

And our necks were spared too.

Here is where my story parts

From one that you may know,

For back to the hall I went with my friends,

To stay or now to go.

Could I stay in my own world,

With the Hatter and the Hare,

To spend my days grinning with the Cheshire Cat,

Free without a care.

I’ll spend my days in that garden

That I tried so hard to reach,

Growing up without a care,

While my feet keep their boots, each.

Yes, I think,

This really is the best,

For me to stay where I can live,

Dreaming without rest.

I think this world is mind alone,

And it shan’t get out of hand,

Because my name is Alice Liddell,

And I am a permanent resident of Wonderland.