Wonderland, by Thomas Belton

Photographs provided by the author. Alice in Wonderland sculpture, by Jose de Creeft (Spain) 1959

Wonderland 

                                       two companion photographs in black and white
                                                    we took turns standing in profile
                                       before the bright blossoming magnolia tree
                                                    in central park with the reflecting pool
                                       fuzzy and out of focus down the hill 
                                                    both bearded and my hair longish
                                       yours shorter just coming out of chemo
                                                    but the twinkle was there a sparkle  
                                       from the unknowable working its way free

                                       we’d just come from the alice in wonderland statue
                                                    mad hatter in tableaux with the rabbit and 
                                       prim child in the victorian apron you laughing
                                                    as I made you sit in her lap but that picture 
                                       didn’t come out no only the two of us staring
                                                    into the distance as if we could see the future 
                                       like peering down a rabbit hole where mathematical
                                                    algorithms relativism space time coordinates 

                                      could fix us forever still in that eternity of our own space
                                                    explain the lost moments spent on the couch letting
                                      poisons drip into your blood like swarming statues broken 
                                                    from their pedestals at the metropolitan slowly 
                                      dissolving like ozymandias in the desert all the ancients 
                                                    crumbling into whirlwinds of dust as Alice
                                      and alice and the rabbit and alice and the statue and alice  
                                                    stumbles before me into that blacked hole
                                      of a photograph and I hear your laughter again as you

                                      throw stones at the tiny ships sailing on the reflecting pool 
                                                    tsunamis swamping the delicate wooden boats controlled
                                      by strings from ancient mariners who patrolled the shoreline
                                                    like gods from olympus until driven to holy madness 
                                      they pursued us bloody invective strengthening their limbs
                                                    till we splashed across the pool and up the slope
                                      to stand breathless beneath the flowers falling like pink rain
                                                    into our upended mouths not sensing from the photo
                                      that our feet were soaked and a cheshire cat was grinning

Thomas Belton

Thomas Belton is an author with extensive publications in fiction, poetry, non-fiction, magazine feature writing, science writing, and journalism. His professional memoir, “Protecting New Jersey’s Environment: From Cancer Alley to the New Garden State (Rutgers University Press)” was awarded “Best Book in Science Writing for the General Public” by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. See: https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/protecting-new-jerseys-environment/9780813548876
He is a widely published writer of short stories and poetry and has won numerous prestigious awards. He is also a frequent Op-Ed writer for the New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.