Awhile back, I gave myself the task of writing one long, continuous blackout poem from Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland. This is the result of that challenge, which was roughly four months in the making. The result is far stranger than I thought it might turn out to be, and took directions I never intended.

A small note about the physicality of the project: You will notice that the use of a Sharpie upon each page caused significant bleedthrough, rendering the page on the opposite side unreadable and unusable from the standpoint of the poem. I felt it would be more true to the nature of a blackout poem to accomodate for this, letting the physical properties of the book, not the original story, guide this new narrative. Thus the poem was written using text from every other page.

If you enjoy the poem, have questions or want to rake me over the coals for defacing such a cornerstone of literature, please know that comments are available. Also, I’d wish to point out that this was a paperback reprint with a glued binding that I spared every expense in acquiring, so it’s not like this was an original. You can find plenty of discarded versions at your local landfill, so I found it more appropriate to give this copy a second life.

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