A Coat of Cracked Teacups
Wonderland Challenge Day 24
I’ve always adored the original Jabberwocky—its strange, musical logic, the way it makes you feel something deep and vivid even though half the words don’t technically exist.
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I stomp through the bramble-thick logic of yesterday’s tea,
wearing my rage like a coat made of cracked teacups and unsaid apologies,
each sleeve a snicker-snack of could-haves and nearlys that bit me when I blinked,
and the frabjous moon grinned like it knew what I lost but wouldn’t tell me.
There was a bandersnatch once, soft as burnt toast and cruel as silence,
who kissed like a broken rhyme and left crumbs on my tongue
that tasted like tulgey mornings without her,
when the fog tried to remember how her name felt in the throat.
I should have shouted, or danced, or torn apart the garden of clocks,
but I only brewed another pot of grief and stared into the cup
as if love might rise again with the steam.
The Jabberwock came later, wearing her smile,
and I didn’t fight it.
I asked it to stay.
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About the Creator
Diane Foster
I’m a professional writer, proofreader, and all-round online entrepreneur, UK. I’m married to a rock star who had his long-awaited liver transplant in August 2025.
When not working, you’ll find me with a glass of wine, immersed in poetry.
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Comments (3)
I love how this poem starts off stomping, wearing rage as a coat, and then ends with a pot of tea brewed and asking the nonsense to stay - it's as if we move from angered grief to a moment of quiet acceptance.
I should think you would. Nothing better than a Jabberwock for company on such a day.
This is some seriously creative writing. The imagery here is wild, like "wearing my rage like a coat made of cracked teacups". It makes me think of how we hold onto emotions in strange ways. I wonder how you came up with this unique take on the Jabberwocky. Did you draw inspiration from other versions or just let your imagination run wild? Also, the line about brewing a pot of grief is really powerful. How do you think one can move past that kind of emotional state?