Part of my little side project is to write a little more in depth about my original poems and excerpts from “The Smiling Skeleton”. To be honest, most of my written works come to me at the spur of the moment, and “Innocent Alice” was one of them. Alice in Wonderland has always been a childhood favorite of mine, and a story which I’ve been deeply connected to on a personal level. The bond I have, and the way my soul resonates with Alice and the plot that is Wonderland (or Undlerland in my favorite Tim Burton version) is something difficult for me to explain. Each predicament Alice finds herself in, wandering through the fictitious world of wonder, on her own will and strength through twisted lands and demented paths with the guidance of the insane.
Her escape from reality, and strife to make her way through whatever she faces holds a prize in my heart. I’ve always had a fascination with unusual, peculiar fiction and the idea of making fiction so realistic, it becomes reality. When I discovered Burton was releasing his version, I nearly had a heart attack. It was the perfect combination of everything I love, plus darkness and twisted plot made me fall in love with Alice even more.
As for the Mad Hatter, each confidant in my life has so closely shared the characteristics of characters such as the Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts or even the Caterpillar. Ok, well maybe that’s in my head but still. In real essence, as a child I was naive and innocent until one day the real world “bit me” and I never returned. I never used to understand or depend on hope until my childhood came crashing down before me, and I soon learned to depend on this foreign concept. Hope …