That Other Rabbit Hole - Andrew Barham

What is this sad place where friendships go to die?
I thought we'ld be forever-friends, you and I –
It never pays to take friendship for granted
These dark days of rain falling, dense and slanted,
Counterpoint to the heartache searing my soul
Like falling down through that other rabbit hole.

The old pocket-watch waits, quietly ticking,
Seconds become minutes silently sticking
As the Universe all around me pauses –
Those frantic effects awaiting their causes;
Whatever estranged answers await me here
I know only that my world is bleak and sere.

That other rabbit hole is no wonderland
Enchanted with what we've yet to understand,
Though understanding here is also lacking:
The strange symmetry of charm is sent packing;
Instead of charm there is only estrangement –
A bleak alternative rearrangement.

When we cannot understand what has passed by
When all that has happened, takes us like a cry
Rending every moment of love with pain
So that we feel the hurt again and again
All efforts failing no matter how we try
Then have we only, the final question, "Why?"

Andrew Barham