Daniel Mooney - White Rabbit
White Rabbit
It's hard to put into words the forces that there be,
the ones that no one else can see, designed for you and me.
They haunt, they taunt, they lead the way, down the rabbit hole we follow.
It's up to us to leave this place,
before it leaves us hollow.
We go upside down, hand in hand,
we sip until we're small.
We're breathing in daydreamers clouds, when we're 10 feet tall.
We follow all the signs we see,
until sense is made no more.
It's always hard to find the key
To let us out the door.
But alas I think we've found the way,
as painful as it seems,
we cannot leave here hand in hand,
and still achieve our dreams...
Since the moment that we met,
we were like birds of a feather.
Now wonderland is all I dream of.
The only place that we're together
From the Press:
White Rabbit presents the quiet ache between wonder and surrender. There is a tension between the worlds we tumble into and the ones we must eventually walk away from. Mooney writes into the liminal headspace where enchantment becomes a trap, where the very magic that leaves us in a daze begins to dim, asking whether we can keep dreaming without losing ourselves in the dream.
Daniel articulates vividly through soft imagery how the rabbit hole becomes less a place and more of a state of being: the pull of old habits, old loves, the parts of life that hold us tenderly even as they hollow us out.
There is a deep honesty in this poem: the painful understanding that not every journey is meant to be shared all the way through. The speaker's voice never condemns; instead, it carries the bittersweet grace of choosing growth over comfort, truth over illusion. Mooney captures that deeply human moment when choosing yourself becomes a kind of bravery — when letting go is not an act of abandonment, but a step toward becoming.
In the end, White Rabbit opens outward, reminding us that dreamers eventually face these crossroads: the intersection where the enchantment tries to keep us small, and where we choose with wavering clarity, to walk toward our own becoming. It is shaped as a farewell, but held in the light of hope.
About the Author:
Daniel Mooney is an aspiring poet from England. By day he is a plumber, by night a poet and writer. After an accident followed by a breakup, he felt it easier to share his emotions through written word. His work touches on the real and raw experiences of love, heartbreak, mental health, and addiction recovery. He is currently working on a compilation of poetry where each poem will be accompanied by a unique illustration, as well as a comic book.
He can be found on Instagram @love_lost_poetry_of_the_moon
