Alice's Problema

I am flipping pancakes at the tea party.
Time stands still
when ambition sits at a closed bazaar.
No matter that the batter would suit
the mad hatter.
Your eyelashes are not for sale
but what you see
is not the chill you get in a thrift shop
or the key in the keyhole.
Of all the women I've ignored
I've paid the most attention
to your underwear.
Stains dry when the sun comes out to play.
The torso goes back on its promise.
The reprise is somehow musical.
You were never an ugly duckling.
I feel sorry for roads that can't find sidewalks.
I baste your loins with a lover's tongue.

-- David Lawrence