No other siblings lived, save me,

In my restricted family.

As I was born my father cried,

My mother very nearly died.

My father’s seed was fully sown

I’d have to flourish on my own.

No siblings shared my world, instead

I grew and thrived inside my head.

Books supplied my universe

My love for Alice was perverse.

A parallel life in Wonderland

Was all that I could understand.

The Cheshire Cat still smiled at me,

And Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee.

The lobsters, dancing their quadrille;

Old Father Will gave me a thrill.

The March Hare and the Hatter, mad,

The teapot with the Dormouse sad.

Yes, that entrancing start decreed

That as an author I’d succeed.