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The Man in the Bear Outfit
for Kim
1
You don’t say
- You know the one about the guy in the bear outfit?
- The guy in the bear costume?
- No, the guy in the bear outfit.
- What’s the difference?
- The guy in the bear costume’s dressing up,
he’s just pretending to be a bear.
2
Who is to say
Most of the time he’s docile
we never see him, he’s sleeping.
Most of the time we spend watching
The Observation Channel
we never see him.
We know he can be dangerous.
We spend most of our time
exploring the four corners
of the flat screen
watching the movie mirror
for proof of his existence.
Most of the time we don’t find him.
Granddaddy said he saw him once
dipping his paw into a silver lake.
He said his fur came out all soggy
but the ripples, he said
the ripples . . .
Granddaddy said he was lucky.
Mind you Granddaddy had stayed up awful late.
In fact Granddaddy’s been up an awful long time.
Sometimes I think Granddaddy
might be the man in the bear outfit.
Something about his eyes
like they’re not his real eyes
3
Let it be said
The man in the bear outfit
fits the bear outfit.
The man in the bear outfit
hunts by night.
The man in the bear outfit
does not think he is worthy of the bear outfit.
The man in the bear outfit
considers the bear outfit
from the inside.
The man in the bear outfit
observes the changing of the seasons
knows well the long summer months
and is grateful in winter.
The man in the bear outfit
is generally aware of how ridiculous
the bear outfit is.
The man in the bear outfit
does not choose to wear the bear outfit
but does so despite its irritation.
The man in the bear outfit
is ready to die in the bear outfit
but not because of the bear outfit
ready to defend himself
knowing that the bear outfit
offers him no obvious protection
apart from the fact that it is a bear outfit
knowing that it is not the bear outfit
that he will be defending.
The man in the bear outfit
knows that every bear outfit is different.
The man in the bear outfit
does not know his own color.
The man in the bear outfit
does not know whether or not he is a woman or
just a man in a bear outfit.
The man in the bear outfit
winks at the girl in chicken outfit.
The girl in the chicken outfit doesn’t know
The man in the bear outfit
is winking at her because
The man in the bear outfit
is wearing a bear outfit.
Tonight
The man in the bear outfit
remembers
how cold the world is and
how lonely it is being
The man in the bear outfit.
He zips up tightly and prepares
for another sleep hunting dream hugging night
of moons reflecting on placid winter lakes
of a million silver fish in cool water pools
of rolling over and over in the snow
and how it would be to be
with all this and without
his bear outfit.
4
What the man in the bear outfit never tells us
under his bear outfit
the man in the bear outfit sometimes wears
another outfit
what we don’t know
is the outfit
he wears under his bear outfit
another bear outfit?
what we shall never know
which outfit
the man in the bear outfit
considers to be his one true outfit
what we shouldn’t want to know
what the man the man in the bear outfit
has on when he takes off
all of his outfits
5
Some answers to some questions that the man in the bear outfit is often asked
no, no I’m not a wolf in sheep’s clothing
no, I told you it is not a costume
no, not a uniform
not fancy dress
no, it is necessary.
I do not dress up for state occasions
yes, no, yes
what you see is not what you get
no, yes, no
no more questions
please, no more questions.
.
.
Copyright © Jan Noble 2006
ISBN 978-1-907513-21-3
Nº 9 of 12
for Kim
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