Chase the white
tail. That’s what
he said.
Ziplock bag. So tiny.
Dust on a mirror.
Then gone.
Wonderland was.
Many things at once.
But never good.
I still went back
to chase the rabbit.
Every day for a year.
I grew big and then
little and then big
again.
Hats and Cheshire
cats. My life unfolded
like a note.
Every crease:
a line I chose
to cross.
It took years
to fold my life back
into a shape.
Origami crane.
Cootie catcher
from fifth grade.
A paper rabbit
reminiscent
of the chase.
Never caught it,
but it still darts
from place to place.
tail. That’s what
he said.
Ziplock bag. So tiny.
Dust on a mirror.
Then gone.
Wonderland was.
Many things at once.
But never good.
I still went back
to chase the rabbit.
Every day for a year.
I grew big and then
little and then big
again.
Hats and Cheshire
cats. My life unfolded
like a note.
Every crease:
a line I chose
to cross.
It took years
to fold my life back
into a shape.
Origami crane.
Cootie catcher
from fifth grade.
A paper rabbit
reminiscent
of the chase.
Never caught it,
but it still darts
from place to place.
Crystal Ignatowski's poetry has been featured in or is forthcoming from Cotton Xenomorph, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Barren Magazine, Four Way Review, and more. She is currently the Assistant Editor of Flypaper Lit. She lives and writes in Oregon. Twitter: @crysignatowski.