The Victorian Violet Press & Journal

Expansion

The landscape of the cosmos recedes
Races away into an ever-reddening horizon
As reality retreated from Alice
First the bright entrance of the hole
Shrinking and shrinking into a single point
A shimmery star that blinked shut before she lit

And contracted in on herself to fit through a door too small

Maybe shrinking Alice thought the room expanded
Even the floor stretched under her feet
As she staggered a bit, balance deceived
Because gravity followed wherever she went
Whether she named it or not
Among the many strange thoughts she explored

Such a small Alice and such a big key

And so much did she want through that door
To chase a rabbit, foxy child that she was
A rabbit so obsessed with time
It might have fractured against the crystal of its watch
Shattered into an illusion
And lingered, forever, just beyond Alice’s ken

Tardiness is a relative sin

Ask any star, on any starry night
How long its light has been delayed
While the universe expanded
And life chased itself through Earth
Landed near a tiny door, then shrank to pass
Beyond its keyhole view of magical worlds

Rushing away to their own nonsensical ends

Rae Spencer

is a writer and veterinarian living in Virginia. Her poetry has been published in print and online, receiving Pushcart Prize nominations in 2009 and 2010. She can be found on the web here.

Art ~ Authur Rackham