A Thousand Miles from Kansas

Happy birthday to the King of Rock-n-Roll! January 8 was the birthday of Elvis Presley. A little belated this year as the International Date Line as thrown me of course! In 1993, I found myself in line at a  post office to get the new United States Postal Service’s first ever Elvis Presley postage stamp. Only twenty-nine cents back in the day. I remember it was a madhouse with people dressed as Elvis. I saw “Blue Hawai’i” Elvis, “Aloha from Hawai’i” Elvis, and all manner of Elvis in between!  But what really caught my eye was a little nine year old boy in line with his mother to buy a stamp, totally decked out in Elvis attire complete with white jumpsuit, sweeping hair, gold-rimmed sunglasses, and a guitar. He entertained all of us waiting in line. It was awesome. After I purchased my stamps, which I still have to this day, I went home and wrote this poem. I’ve shared it with people in the past via different mediums. It has not been revised very much, but I did change the title. 

I Saw Elvis Today

It’s not uncommon to see Elvis these days.

Elvis is everywhere.

I saw the King today at the post office in a nine year old boy,

white jumpsuit, rhinestones and scarf.

I stood back for a moment and eyed young Elvis.

As he purchased the stamp, I thought;

Gone, yes. But Elvis will never die.

The spirit’s alive and well…

Uh, thank you … thank you very much.

I saw Elvis today.

© 2019 Gregory Vessar