Steampunk Alice and Hatter
Chapter One: The Clockwork Lane
Alice clicked her copper boots,
Past a row of brass-bound suits.
Hatter waved a whirring spoon,
“Mind the gears, they bite by noon!”
Chapter Two: The Teapot Engine
“Fill the boiler, pour the tea,
Cups for clocks and cups for me!
Sugar’s made of powdered steam,
Milk is churned by a ticking beam!”
Alice sipped, her cheeks turned red,
“Why, this tastes of bolts instead!”
Chapter Three: The Umbrella Parade
Umbrellas marched in thumping rows,
Each one squeaked with squeaky toes.
Some were striped and some were square,
One had smoke instead of air!
“Salute!” cried Hatter, tipping wide,
As one flew off to ride the tide.
Chapter Four: The Skyward Stairs
They climbed a stair that never stopped,
Each brass step clanked, then fizzed, then popped.
“Up we go to nowhere fast,
Mind your balance, gears don’t last!”
Alice laughed, “This stair’s a trick,
The higher we climb, the more it ticks!”
Chapter Five: The Laughing Balloon
A great balloon with painted grin,
Spoke: “Climb in, or don’t begin!”
Its ropes were strings of violin,
Its gas a puff of mandolin.
The Hatter bowed, “We’ll ride in tune!”
So off they flew, at half past June.
Chapter Six: The Cogwork Cat
A cat of copper, sleek and thin,
With emerald eyes and a whirring grin,
Purred, “Oil me now or I may freeze,
My tail runs on elastic cheese!”
Alice scratched its ticking back,
It sneezed out sparks and turned jet-black.
Chapter Seven: The Accordion Bridge
Across the river, stretched so wide,
A bridge went “HONK!” on every stride.
Each plank was built of squeezebox parts,
It wheezed out tunes from broken hearts.
“Step in time,” the Hatter said,
As Alice laughed and skipped instead.
Chapter Eight: The Barrel of Hats
A barrel rolled from cobbled street,
Inside were hats, all lined and neat.
Top-hats, flat-hats, hats that sang,
One cried, “Mind my copper fang!”
The Hatter dove with merry cheer,
“I’ve found next Tuesday hiding here!”
Chapter Nine: The Sighing Tower
A tower sighed with every chime,
(It hated working overtime).
It groaned at noon, it whined at night,
Its windows blinked with lantern-light.
Alice said, “Why not complain?”
The tower sneezed, then sighed again.
Chapter Ten: The Biscuit Machine
They met a great contraption grand,
It clapped two cymbals hand to hand.
Out popped biscuits, sweet and round,
Until the gears jammed with a sound!
The Hatter cried, “More jam, I say!”
So jam appeared without delay.
Chapter Eleven: The Gearfish Pond
The pond was full of fish of brass,
That swam in circles, slow as glass.
One leapt out with a spluttered “Tick!”
And landed with a clanking kick.
Alice smiled, “Let’s take one home,
A clockwork carp is nice to own.”
Chapter Twelve: The Whistling Moon
The moon above began to sing,
A whistled tune on silver string.
The stars all waltzed in patterned squares,
The planets bowed in copper chairs.
The Hatter tipped his hat so high,
“A splendid evening, dear, good-bye!”
And hand in hand through steam they passed,
Their wonderland rebuilt in brass.
The Crazymad Writer Writes Again 