1
Excuse me, the name is not Oswald
you have clearly mistaken me
for another rabbit. Good Day Mademoiselle!
2
Why do you continue to hound me?
3
If we speak, one time, my choice of venue
will you please leave me alone, afterwards?
I will require your promise as a gentlecreature
4
You mentioned you have already interviewed
Koko, so the effects of elasticity are already apparent
to you. It can rot the mind. Why did it not affect me
like it did him? It is all a matter of control, more precisely
who is in control of you, and how far will they go to keep you?
Do you understand? No, of course you don’t.
There will be no further contact unless initiated by me
5
This is all I care to share:
it was easier then
jokes were easier
action was easier
rabbits were easier
It didn’t matter if
we did the same joke
over and over
no one had seen
anything like it
audiences demanded it
they wanted to see
the same thing, over and over
can you imagine the roars
of laughter that followed
each screening
how they wanted more and more
there’s only so much to give
before a rabbit’s ears fall off
and don’t fit back on
then it’s just business
But I miss it
every day
6
I could have been the Mouse you know
it all came down to money
the bane of creativity
art, nobility, beautiful
roly poly rabbits
whose kisses turned into
hearts in the air
(The beginning of the dynasty. Disney never got over losing Oswald and I could tell neither did the rabbit. One of the greats, some say unfairly sidelined. The original, the star of his time, Oswald first appeared in 1927, captain of a trolley. A foreshadowing of a certain captain of a steamship? GG)
Peterborough Poets 