A Poem by Aldo Tambellini

AMERICA
Al Capone died for your sins
died for the privately owned
on the take respected politicians
died for the creative entrepreneurial capitalistic spirit
supplying a need wanted by the people
died as a CEO & Chairman of the board
ruling a powerful highly profitable corporation
& for security
employing hit-men protecting from the competition
exterminating rats with the new law & order

the highly successful soprano hits the high C
performing in the sold-out drama best known as:
THE MOBSTER STEREOTYPED OPERA
receiving artistic awards & endless encores

remember those 2 immigrants Sacco & Vanzetti
one smelling of fish the other a peddler
they were framed & executed
in the historical puritanical Boston
believing that the free America symbolic eagle
with clipped wings was an endangered species

let’s not forget Rocky
the macho italio-stallion
what happened
in the never ending boxing ring saga
did he win/loose/make a come-back/fade away?
or did the downsized intellectual brain
deflate his muscular power

& if the Viking came here
before the navigating controversially adventurous Colombo
they should be represented with an antique museum ship
at that once a year proud marching band parade
notice the political candidates
making the obligatory brief appearance
& disappearance after hustling for votes

who really did & why
they shot a different Colombo
2 bullet slugs in the brain
disrupting the Unity Rally in Manhattan
an FBI well scripted HIT scenario?
the growing Italian American Civil Rights League
was relentlessly under fire from the NY media
they could not tolerate the stereotyping claims
of yet another discriminated group
but you will ask
what the hell is this
all about?

why call that bloody red drink
DEGO WINE
fermenting in the Napa Valley
why not re-baptize it
MAFIOSO WINE
updating the label to a more
popular sellable identification

during this multi-cultural & divided gender time
it seems many discriminated groups
are prominently represented
filling the bookstore shelves/the library & school texts

someone will say:
we have equal representation too
buried below ancient graves
there in the old country
patronized by Lorenzo Il Magnifico de Medici
public TV called him the
RENAISSANCE GODFATHER
(it raised some objection)

I disagree says someone else:
here with the masses we have
achieved high recognition
in this new country we have the famous deceased
notorious TEFLON DON
the network financing his family to grow up on TV
we have an endless list of odd names
playing on the media HIT PARADE:
Jimmy the Clam/ Alley Boy/Anthony Gaspipe/
The Chin/The Snake/Crazy Joe Gallo
the who’s who list too long to mention
the canaries inside cages
sing to the judge at the
FEDERAL COURT HOUSE
while big time legitimate political gangsters
cash in billions from wartime racketeering
devastating nations
destroying lives
as the ecological balance tilts to disaster

we have the best seller
powerful CORLEONE
acted by legendary Brando
sealed lips/secret OMERTA/
COSA NOSTRA affairs/
territorial wars & VENDETTA
we have the ruthless GANGLAND MOBSTERS
killing each other in real life
& on the bigger than life-size Hollywood screen
question:
does a name make one
guilty by association?
we have the grease ball/the wise guy/
the good nature dumb GOOMBA
all well publicized loved & hated by the media
as for the history books
don’t forget the over-achiever
LUCKY LUCIANO
first imprisoned by the government
later released as a useful tool for the Feds

others will say:
pay no attention
it’s all a tempest in a teapot
it will all wash away
& the children of the children
of the struggling back breaking cheap labor
un-welcomed immigrants
do they know
LA STORIA SEGRETA
the disrupted lives of the GUINEA’S WWII internment camps?
& those who have so called “arrived”
with legitimate professions?
well most of them have gone outside dangerous cities
migrating to insulated safe suburbia
inspired by the AMERICAN DREAM
sold by TV commercials
carpet lawn desert/two car garage & shopping mall heaven

some may be renting blockbuster video reruns
featuring well directed & acted
ruthless MOB CAPOS-men of honor
ruling the crime corporation with good old family values
their greedy mouths stuffed with spaghetti or linguini
home made basil tomato sauce simmered in blood
remember the Alka Seltzer commercial
thatsa a spicy meataballa
& those viewers could be judges/doctors/lawyers/teachers/
even proud local politicians or just blue-collar workers
they might say to the growing new generation:
LOOK
finally we have arrived at
a nationally visible representation
question:
is the most acknowledged contribution
food & crime?
somewhere
a writer/an artist/a creative intellectual dreamer
sits in a dark corner at the CAFFE’ PARADISO
staring at Dante’s shrunken head on the wall
next to a puzzled Mona Lisa reproduction
one of them reading lines from a famous poem:
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness starving hysterical naked
he sips a bitter espresso
macchiato with chemical creamora
tasting an artificially sweetened cannoli
thinking:
maybe someday there will be a real cultural pride parade
just maybe
is this a wishful dream or something to think about?