The Mouse
Poetry by Scott Hurd. "Dad was going to Vietnam / where there was no Magic Kingdom. / Only bombs bursting in air. / But I went to Disneyland for just a buck. / It’s a small, small world."
This poem first appeared in Volume 17.2
They were certain I would have a nice day.
They were insistent, even, for I was to meet
The Mouse. Perhaps I’d seen him on TV.
Sunday night—a pixie sprinkling fairy dust.
A storybook castle. A Wonderful World.
I knew the show. Bedknobs, broomsticks.
A nanny, practically perfect in every way.
A Love Bug faster than Dad’s.
Dalmatians, Siamese cats, an orphaned deer.
But I did not know The Mouse.
Dad was going to Vietnam
where there was no Magic Kingdom.
Only bombs bursting in air.
But I went to Disneyland for just a buck.
It’s a small, small world.
I would see The Mouse for a day. I would
not see Dad again for six months. Again and again.
And Mom, I’d see her alone, putting me to bed, then
beating our bathtub with a rolled-up towel.
A tip from a friend. Again and again.
Ears imposed on my head resembled his,
suggesting we shared a bond, an understanding.
The Mouse spoke no words of comfort or wisdom.
He gave me what he could: a permanent plastic grin.
He grabbed my hand, smiled for the camera.
Mom grabbed my hand later, at a shipside pier.
Balloons and bands, flags and tears, a final embrace.
Dad ascended the gangplank to his waiting destroyer.
It was not a nice day. But I’d had one, surely, they insisted
because I got to see The Mouse.
Scott Hurd has authored five books, including Forgiveness: A Catholic Approach. His books have been translated into Korean, Polish, and German, and won awards from the Association of Catholic Publishers and the Catholic Press Association. His essays, reviews, and poems have been published in numerous journals, newspapers, and magazines, and he has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is married to fellow writer Diane Kraynak.
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