Poem of the Day: “Inside the Suits” by Mary Soon Lee

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present “Inside the Suits” by Mary Soon Lee, Poet of the Week.  A brief biography of Ms. Lee may be found here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2015/03/poet-of-week-mary-soon-lee.html.

Inside the Suits

Mary Soon Lee

No telling what she's really like

from the outside.

Yes, she looks happy enough

with that plastic smile

painted permanently on her plastic head,

but the woman inside 

the Minnie Mouse costume

could be glaring at me

even as she lifts

her spotted skirt

to pirouette for the camera.

And maybe Mickey is just here

for the money,

and maybe Goofy hates kids,

and Pooh hates honey,

and Piglet hates Pooh.

     

But I will never believe

that the man bouncing tirelessly

in his Tigger outfit 

is anything less than perfect,

or that there is anything

less than love

under his fur

as he lays his stripy paw

on my shoulder,

stripping me down

to the six-year-old

I once was,

looking for a friend

to trust.

Poet's Notes:  I first went to Walt Disney World with my small children and was fascinated by the people dressed up as characters.  When Tigger put his paw on my shoulder, the cynical part of me disappeared for a moment, and I felt loved.

Editor’s Note:  I have often wondered the same thing about those costumed characters.  “Inside the Suits” first appeared in Main Street Rag, Volume 15, Number 3, Summer 2010.