BEASTLY TALES - THE GANGSTER
Welcome to Beastly Tales. Each has a message, a moral. All are meant to have an element of humour. Naturally, any names included do not depict real folk but are included as part of the joke.
All rights reserved.
(As with Beastly Banter Beastly Tales is written and illustrated by Richard Hersel.)
Thank you for your following.
Richard Hersel
BEASTLY TALES
THE GANGSTER
(circa 1925)
Prohibition was in force at about this time,
A folly that was stupendously sublime.
An invitation to criminals to make huge money,
By flouting this law. It’s ridiculously funny.
Yes, around the mid twenties it happened to be,
When Speak-Easies served grog in a cup meant for tea.
The wealthy and fashionable of the day,
Would flaunt their fine clothing both bright and gay.
Whilst entertainments they would attend,
And drink hooch until they were “around the bend”.
Whilst the appetite for booze did live on,
The ability to drink openly had now gone,
Underground, so to speak,
and the Feds would seek
Speak-Easies in every dark, dingy alley,
The Feds., in night raids, forth did sally.
And all this time, waiting in the wings,
Were gangsters doing many criminal things.
They had secret distilleries to distil,
A variety of concoctions designed to thrill.
They also had breweries readily brewing,
Beers and ales that the thirsty love pursuing.
And the gangsters raked in loads of money.
It’s strange a new law could be so stupidly funny.
Of course, such activity of greed,
Meant that there was competition to heed.
Rival gangs did readily shoot to kill,
Using Tommy Guns that required some skill.
As they drilled many holes in bodies and car,
While the Head Gangster puffed on a cigar,
Along with all this there were police and F.B.I.
All waiting and willing to help people die.
They had weaponry similar to the gangsters,
Oh, what indolent, quite stupid pranksters.
Much of the police force was on “the take”,
Getting kickbacks for action quite fake.
Tip offs to Speak-Easy about pending raid,
Earned good money easily made.
The gangsters in this period of time,
Made millions of dollars without “reason or rhyme”.
They sold illicit whisky and gin,
At such a rate it made one’s head spin.
One gangster, by the name of Big AL,
Joined together with a favourite pal.
They decided to create a new market niche,
And so into marketing they did pitch.
The thought was to introduce a drink called Kava
A drink that Polynesians would certainly rather,
Have, than a belt of hooch any day.
Big AL thought it would really pay.
But their market research was not so good,
And it should be most clearly understood,
That there weren’t many Polynesians in the U.S.A.,
During the prohibition period that was underway.
So Big AL and his buddy fared not well,
And the Kava they’d made began to smell.
Regular hooch went right out the door,
But always there was room for more.
Until the silly government did repeal,
The stupid law that they’d made to deal,
With inebriation, both far and wide.
And by doing so, one needs to chide,
Had unleashed a crime wave, murder and greed.
An interesting lesson for authority to heed.
To the Law Makers, “Don’t make laws that are dumb”,
Or, out of office you’ll be voted, like silly scum!
as a friend said above...very interesting work i traveled for a moment in gangsters era!!!....very nice piece of work...congrats!!!
Thanks, glad you liked it.
And the BS continues to this day. Except another substance is being vilified.
Outstanding poem. You have once again taken me to another era with a great story to go with it.
Thank you, glad you liked it.
photo nice @beastlybanter thanks.
"Tip offs to Speak-Easy about pending raid,Earned good money easily made."
Real story happening in our societies everyday.....@beastlybanter, this poem is both interesting and educative
Otra obra increible, felicidades! Saludos Richard!
A lesson for our legislators and politicians...laws are made for men and not men for the laws. This is a master piece of poem....bravo!
How u doing this? You keep impressing me more each post. Good work!
Thank you.
Can I offer a word of advice?
I've seen a few of your poems floating around. And I have notice that you don't put in any "stanza spacing" onto it.
Putting in a few paragraph gaps will help the reader keep track of where they are in a long wall of text (this is called a grey wall in publishing). If you break up this "grey wall" it becomes much more pleasant on the readers eye and more enticing to read. Take this from an old hand at desk top publishing who studied the effect of how text is presented on the readers perception. Use it..don't use it... Free advice.
You have just give a nice opinion. I also second that idea
Thanks for your advice. I sometimes put my writing into paragraphs but I didn't this time. I will be more aware to include this to make it easier to read.
You’d be surprised by how much something seemingly so mundane can be the difference between someone reading something or not. Hehe
This is awsome, your written description is brilliant
Thanks.
and i find this poetry really interesting because of the topic you choose.
great work. gangsta