Bill Garvey

At Pearson Airport
  Toronto, Christmas 2005

His Mickey Mouse ears oddly pitched 
forward, a boy sobs at the luggage carousel.
His father said something sharp for which 
he will later beg his wife’s forgiveness, tell 
her he was tired, it was a long day, but now 
he hugs the boy, kisses his wrinkled
brow, tousles his hair, says how 
sorry he is while his sister tickles

his ribs and his mother reminds
him of Mickey, Minnie and Cinderella.
He stares up at a Mylar balloon behind
an I-beam, its crinkled dalmatians, and Cruella
de Vil’s withered but menacing frown
as luggage lolls like cattle round and round.

Bill Garvey is a dual citizen of Canada and the USA. He currently lives in Nova Scotia and Toronto. His collection of poetry, The basement on Biella, was published in 2023 by DarkWinter Press. His work has been nominated for The Griffin Poetry Prize and Best of the Net and has been published in journals throughout North America.