Elvis Is Dead, Long Live The King

I’ll have a blue Christmas without you
I’ll be so blue just thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won’t be the same dear, if you’re not here with me

And when the blue snowflakes start falling
That’s when those blue memories start calling
You’ll be doing alright with your Christmas of white
But I’ll have a blue Christmas

You’ll be doing alright with your Christmas of white
But I’ll have a blue, blue Christmas
(Lyrics by Brooks and Dunn)

Elvis has been dead now
For some 34 years
Yet his name
And his legend
Have never
Been greater

The death of Elvis
Is one of those
Seismic events
That makes everyone
Always remember
Where they were
When they first
Heard the news

I was at my office
In Albany, NY
When the news
Came over the radio
That Elvis had been
Found dead
Having fallen off of
His Vegas hotel
Commode
At age 42

Despite his addiction
To prescription drugs
Elvis had squeezed
More productive and
Fruitful years
Into his short life
Than any ordinary man
Should have been entitled to

You ain’t nothing but a hound dog
Said my lady boss
When I informed her
Of the news
My face must have
Registered my surprise
At her lack of remorse
Well you see
She said
I was never a really big fan

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2011