You once saw this chick with wild, fiery-red curls sitting at the stop light of Magnolia and Pine. You marveled at her hair and her shiny, silver 1963 Stingray, not sure which you liked more. Perhaps it was the feeling it gave you. She had the top pulled back and "Boys of Summer" cranked, pumping out of the cabriolet, as she puffed out a series of tight smoke circles in the air with her Marlboro Red. You knew it was a Marlboro Red because the white and red pack, wrapped in cellophane, sat on the dash, staring at you. You were tempted to lean out the window and grub for one, forgetting you quit smoking ten years ago when you were young and dumb and free and dating old what’s-his-face. Yeah free. You remember that feeling. She felt like the silver-bullet train of freedom to you, in those two minutes and thirty-two seconds at the corner of Magnolia and Pine. You re-lived life before marriage and mortgages, before diapers and daycare, before disillusionment and divorce. The light turned green, that girl in the ‘63 Stingray with the crazy red curls popped the clutch and stole across the intersection, leaving you in her wake with your memories. You released your foot off the brake of your SUV, littered with lost Barbie shoes and yesterday’s half-eaten PBJ, and once again contemplated leaving. Sighing, you knew you can never escape yourself. Instead, you stuck your hand between the seats, fished out that half-eaten PBJ, and thought who needs freedom anyway.
Vacancy September 18, 2009
Need lurks in the corners of her closet
Trying on a ball gown, a clutch, a stole
Pretending she is anything but herself
Waffling between the here and the there, of fame and anonymity
Jimmy Choo heels, borrowed Yurman, Prada on loan
Insecure steps on the red carpet she walks
Courage in a bottle, a pill, a man, she requires
For tonight’s masquerade, her anonymous task, she selects a numbing mask and
Free-flowing Vodka Gimlets to quiet her nerves
Desire harpooned that summer in Cannes
This chameleon, playing charades, she does pretend
Silk straps off her shoulders fall
Passionate promises, poor choices provoked
His smell on her she cannot escape
It’s a shame they will never know his name
Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) September 3, 2009
If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.
The Cat
We’re all mad here.
Alice
If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn’t be. And what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?
The Queen: Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!
Alice
I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is ‘Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle!
The Duchess
If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.
Alice
I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid, Sir, because I’m not myself you see.
Alice
What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations?
The Hatter
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you’re at.
The Queen
Off with her head!
The Duchess
Tut, tut, child! Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it.
The Duchess
Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves.
The Mock Turtle
Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the different branches of arithmetic — Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.
The Mock Turtle
Well, I never heard it before, but it sounds uncommon nonsense.
The King
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Alice
I don’t believe there’s an atom of meaning in it.
The Queen
Sentence first — verdict afterwards.
Alice
You’re nothing but a pack of cards!
Alice
But then, shall I never get any older than I am now? That’ll be a comfort, one way — never to be an old woman — but then — always to have lessons to learn!
The Queen
Now, I give you fair warning, either you or your head must be off, and that in about half no time! Take your choice!
Alice
It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.
Doorknob
Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction.
Mad Hatter
No wonder you’re late. Why, this watch is exactly two days slow.
Alice
Well! I’ve often seen a cat without a grin; but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever say in my life!
The Duchess
There’s a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is — The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours.
The Mock Turtle
What is the use of repeating all that stuff, if you don’t explain it as you go on? It’s by far the most confusing thing I ever heard!
Alice: But it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.
