Catalina Ferry On the Looking Glass (A Sestina)

She and the Red King waited for the boat,
When it arrived, the boat was eager
To depart; a hurried announcement filled the marina with echoes,
Standing too tall and too quickly, Alice
Cannot be sure which is dreaming
And which was now, such was life;


So she promised the Green Sea her short life
As she stepped up onto the boat
And it occurred to her it is the Red King dreaming—
That she must not be eager
To wake him from his dream of Alice
Lest she vanish in waves, houses, or echoes;


It is suddenly quite obvious to lose oneself in echoes,
To take one’s turn at forgetting life;
See the ocean that once was Alice!
See her white waves splashing at the boat!
See the Red King leaning off the stern, eager
To discover what she is dreaming


When she isn’t really dreaming
At all, only mentioning echoes
To dolphins; Here is land! Raise your eager
Gin & Tonic to the ring of a pledged life!
Disembark, leave this boat
In your walking wake, but there will be others, Alice;


Mirrors and kittens for you, Alice,
Who will not long stand for simple dreaming,
They require more than merry oars and a boat—
For sustenance at the very least—because they are, after all, echoes
Of a mother’s young stopped life;
No one is eager


To die in this way; no one is eager
To remind Alice,
And the Red King convincingly promises life
So long as he remains dreaming,
But it was Alice who awakes with echoes
Of sound sleep in her ear, a vague recollection of the boat.


A boat is always eager
For departure, seeks out echoes from what has not yet been; Alice,
Certain she is no longer dreaming, ( ) claims her ( ) life