One poem by Joseph Di Lella

News Flash!
by Joseph Di Lella


This just in –



Rocky and Bullwinkle in a scrape,



a terrible, frightening sight?! Oh my!



Witnesses report



big dumb looking squirrel and flying moose,



no, make that



flying squirrel and idiot elk



seen overhead, running back and forth on the wings of a turboprop



wrestling with Boris and Natasha



USA’s Cold War



Public Enemies Number One and Number Two.



What’s that, Fred? Our man at the site



tells me they’re fighting over a simple hat, called what?



The Kirwood Derby?



Oh – that hat?



The one, if properly worn upon one’s head, turns any nincompoop into a genius?



Truth be told, my fellow Americans,



The Kirwood Derby was named after the debonair television personality, Derwood Kirby,



a man who mocked the fearless duo on air countless times before, he, too,



was forced to fight the lampoon battle of his life.




I ask you, Mr. and Mrs. America,



how could anyone debase cartoonish figures



who give their all to protect our national interests?



Can you think of better role models,



for young boys and girls,



to follow? The hint, the whisper, the inkling of Communism,



and the omnipresence of the McCarthy Hearings,



defamed, injured and destroyed the lives and careers



of beloved movies stars,



celebrated artists,



well-respected authors and writers.



I ask one simple question? Who protected them?



Though a few years removed from such Capitol proceedings



and public lynchings,



this cute little peanut eater and bumbling, distant cousin of the kangaroo



continue their journey



on the accidental trails



of liberty, justice and truth



combating villains galore, weekly, with a never-say-die attitude.




I know my hat, if I had one, would be off



in honor of this dynamic duo



who continually save each and every one of us



from totalitarianism and global domination



of countries near and far.



This is Joseph Smith,



ace reporter, signing off.



Proud to be a Rocky and Bullwinkle supporter



and not a political prisoner



in a Siberian gulag half a continent away



. . . without a television in sight.



Author bio:

Joseph is an Assistant Professor who teaches Bilingual Education and Reading in a state college in New Mexico. He writes fiction and poetry in his spare time. His short story, 'Cheating Destiny' was an 'Alternate Selection' for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Vol. 10) published by Pocket Books (Simon and Schuster). You can find his latest works in current or upcoming e-zines such as The Lorelei Signal, The Battered Suitcase, Alienskin Magazine, and of course his favorite publication -- Clockwise Cat.