Hang On To This

Have faith:

not everyone operates
in self-interest.
Sometimes the grunting and groaning
is just gas.
Friends can find a natural revival
if unique persons meet
beyond the need for survival.
I'm talking about individuation
where there's a likelihood
of graduation
to all-new levels of growing...
Not just eating and eating
as if in the shadow of a piglet.
No break-ups where little pigs
become unhinged
running back to the house to binge.

Hang on to that quiet part of you that knows,
the eternal child...
And talk to her, where ever she goes.
Learn how to coax her from within,
help her to help put your heart
on a happier spin.

Note regarding the illustrations of Alice by John Tenniel: As I collected images on the web, I noticed some old-fashioned colorized drawings of Alice were different from the ones printed in the traditional "Alice in Wonderland" and "Looking Glass" books! As you can see, the pen and ink drawing for the black and white prints show a younger Alice. She is portrayed as a little girl, with large eyes and a fluffy, gamine dress, probably 8 or 9 years old. Colorized Alice was done for some sort of collection of Alice Nursery Rhymes, by Carroll. This Alice wears a pleated yellow frock with a giant blue ribbon in her hair, very much the style of the later part of the century; and she looks as if she could be as old as 12 or 13 years. This just goes to show what a couple of geniuses Carroll and Tenniel were...! For perhaps it was their secret way of showing how, like them, we can all time-travel to Wonderland at any age?