alice lies by the riverbank, detached and disinterested, likened to a clumsy animal caught mid-slip. beside her, her sister reads a dull book, which alice finds irrelevant to her restless, distracted nature. the setting—a meadow beneath a towering tree—feels dreamy yet hollow. alice soon drifts into an otherworldly realm that mirrors her inner confusion, where logic twists and identity fractures. the narrative blurs the boundary between absurdity and reality, echoing her struggle to find meaning in a disjointed world. this reimagining explores alienation, perception, and the surreal distortions of growing up with no clear sense of direction or purpose.

longing with uncertainty for an estranged identity within myself, aching for a graceful return though its banishment was imposed.

my poem of a fragmented, incantatory piece tracing the fool’s dance on the edge of self-destruction, referencing tarot archetypes and an exploration into the rawness of identity and turmoil.