In poetry, some things can stand for other things.
This is called Symbolism.
In Mickey’s Book of Life, Love, and Laughter, certain silly symbols are commonly found.
Cardinals are the little red songbirds that never fly away when the winter comes.
A cardinal symbolizes courage, fortitude, and profound persistence.
When Mickey sees a cardinal, he stupidly thinks it’s a good omen.
Cardinals deliver the will and favor of God Himself.
This is why Catholic Cardinals can become Pope.
Fauns are creatures of Greek Myth, naked young boys or girls,
With horns of a goat and tails of a deer, living in the forest.
In Mickey’s stupid head, they symbolize sensuality and oneness with nature.
Fauns are what Mickey is trying to be when
He takes off his clothes and claims to be a nudist.
The ship with pink sails is a symbol too.
It is a symbol of Mickey’s imagination,
Especially the imagination that shows up in Mickey’s dreams.
It sometimes appears as a 1957 pink and white Mercury,
My dad’s car until it was destroyed in the Belmond tornado of 1966.
Catch a Falling Star 