amos meets colombo bug

Local columnist

Editor’s note: Amos is a churchmouse, who types by hopping on the computer keyboard, but he can’t operate the capital shift, and he shuns punctuation marks – except hyphens and dashes.

with it being close to

columbus day boss

jenny the girl mouse

next door and i decided

to borrow willifred the

white rat s tiny time

traveler machine and

take a trip back to 1492

so we popped the tiny

time traveler onto my

57 cheese-rolet

hit the switch and off

we flew - back in time

and back into space to

1502 instead of 1492

jenny and i tried to

move the lever farther

back but it wouldn t

budge so here we were

stuck in time ten

years too late - just

a little behind

but with nothing else

to do boss jenny and i

got out to look

around the place

it was a different

world all right - all

the bugs and little mice

were decked out in their

finest renaissance wear

mouseketeer hats pantaloons

and gorgeous ruffled gowns

why they should have all

been wearing regal crowns

looky there says me

pointing to an old

decrepit water bug

hobbling along with a

crooked cane

what a weird-looking bug

they re all weird-looking

bugs says jenny to me

it s probably just some

old wino bug roaming

the streets - let s go

no wait a minute

says me with a certain

amount of curiosity

hey grandpa bug whatcha

doing over there

what s that says the

old water bug i m looking

for my ship the nina

have you seen her anywhere

a ship - way out here -

asks jenny incredulously

then she turns to me and

says - i tell ya he s looney

tunes let s get away from here

naw wait a minute longer

says me - no mister water

bug we haven t seen any ship

but we re looking for an old

sailor a sea captain named

columbus have you seen him

the old water bug stops a

moment and turns clear-eyed

to jenny and me

that s a good question says he

a lot of folks confuse him with

me and well they should

for you see i m the one who

guided him across the sea -

well actually the lord and me

when he was lost or facing

mutiny he would stare out

into the sea - and there i d

be swimming along happy

and free so he just kept on

course and followed me

i m the leader to the new

world don t you see - colombo

the water bug not columbus

the klutz captain who wouldn t

hardly stick his feet in the sea

but no one believes me - they

call me colombo the kooky

cockroach rather than the

sea-worthy creature i be

in my heart i know who i

am - the admiral s guide over

the ocean sea - the lord s

little navigator in the course

of human history

boss it s plain little colombo

needs some recognition but

it s enough to realize we can

all be tools in the master s

hand - whether for glory or

anonymity

amos