She said
there is a man who walks around town
who thinks he is Elvis.
It is a cliché, I know, the crazy man who thinks he is Elvis.
But this guy is for real, she says.
He wears a white low-cut button suit, chest hairs showing,
and those 70’s flared pants.
Sometimes, he even flaunts a red cape.
He wears a black wig that each week
the barber pretends to cut.
(That kind of compassion is rare!)
Everyone shows him kindness.
He gets free day-old muffins at the doughnut shop,
and when Joyce is working, she throws in a coffee.
How cool it would be to walk around in white,
feeling like a king, never paying for breakfast,
everyone smiling at you, treating you as a rarity.
People take pictures, videos, come up to him
and ask him to sing. He never does,
just lifts the one side of his lip
and dramatically flips his red velvety cape
purchased years ago
at the local used-clothing store.
Allison Grayhurst is a member of the League of Canadian Poets. Three times nominated for Sundress Publications “Best of the Net” 2015, she has over 950 poems published in over 400 international journals. She has sixteen published books of poetry, seven collections and nine chapbooks. She lives in Toronto with her family. She is a vegan. She also sculpts, working with clay.
thats even better than being an elvis impersonator…when i lived in vegas/henderson they were ubiquitous but cliched…thanks