These and other poems written by David Kruse. He also wrote sonnets in concert with Richard's drawings for Design Festa.

The acrostic Alice poems were written in the same format as last poem in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass.

The first letter of each line displays the girls name that inspired the original book: Alice Pleasance Liddell.

The True Alice

Antiquated and patient,
Like a seed without light or moisture,
Inside she must wait,
Crying only when the others do.

Exhaustible reflection, encased in
Pacific blues and silver extras
Laughing quietly,
Ending in
A smile without dimples, eyes
Shooting primped gazes, one
After the other. Subtle
Nuances don’t travel through
Cut glass.

"Exactly what do the Monochromes see?” she wonders.

Little jarred monarch,
Inside, only touching light from
Direct glances, hovering in
Darkness. Desperately poised.
Exacting the exactness. Always looking at
Looks, a solitary witness, yet never
Left alone.

Fractured Personality

Alice Saw:

"Ask me again, your
Lie was spoken too softly…you want
Inside my jeweled window?
Careful of the choices you make,
Exact your words and try again.”

Alice See:

“Perhaps, you know, I only learned to use
Lies from my trustless mouth and an
Especially holy father.
Aren’t you aware your home is made of
Sand, dirt
And lies? Feeding
Noxious falsehoods of beauty and
Character, a dormant beast,
Ending silence with
Light.
I often come here to
Detach from myself,
Except now you are
Listening to the words never meant to be
Lauded over!”

The Escape

Another Mono-chrome, coming to
Look upon my
Ill-fated mirror.
Can’t you see
Exactly what you want?
Perhaps you
Long for the beauty of color,
Envious of my ornate pretty dress—
And my loneliness and
Suppression? Still desiring what you see
After seeing what you see?.....I see!
Never-the-less, my will is encased,
Created to carry two sets of
Eyes. One to see you, ‘the
Little one’, another
In search of the silver exit.
Desperate, am I to find an escape,
‘Delusional’, say you. Well, what
Exists when a mirror confronts another?
Laceral views of space folding
Lavishly upon itself. My escape.