The News Monger

The grotesque vision of a
gnarled, squint-eyed old woman
functioning as the village gossip
predated now-conventional 
news media, a quantum leap
from primitive dissemination
of all the news fit to spew, into
the respectability of all the
legitimate news fit to print
and broadcast. But that venerable
medium, of course, still exists
and sometimes the source takes
us aback. Not necessarily the
despised caricature of yore
but sometimes an individual
of another gender. Take for
example, a hale and smug man
of very large proportions and
stentorian voice posing as Mr. Nice
spreading subtle neighbourhood
slander, a bully in disguise.