Chapter 63 - Sestina 6

You wanna know what happened to Elvis

I'll tell you what happened

I oughta know man I was one of his army

I mean man I was on his side

He made us feel alright

We were the first wave in the

Postwar baby boom

The generation before had just come

Out of the Great Depression and World War II

You know heavy vibes for people to wear

So much heaviness like some kind of

Voiding of the emotions

Their music you know the songs

Life always carries

You know every culture has songs

Well anyway their music was

Restrained emotion

You know like you didn't wanna dance

If you didn't know how

Which says something strange

Well anyway Elvis came along

About ten years after the nuke

When the only generals America had in

The only army she had were Ike and Mac

And stupor hung over the land

A plague where everyone tried to

Materially free themselves

Still too shell-shocked to understand

To feel what was happening

Everything was getting hopeless

Then when Elvis started to rock

The roll just picked up

I mean drabness the beaver showed us

Could only be a foretold future

Who wanted to be Ward and June and

I mean father never did know best

He was still crazy from surviving the war

Like there was this psychotic pall

So widespread as to be assumed normal

Heavy man you know really

Anyway Elvis showed us an out

You know he showed every man and

Everygirl Woman there's something good

In feeling good

Like a prophet for every boy every girl

When someone's mom and dad lied

Something about him told us

To be sensual is really okay

Someones mom and dad waltzed us around

Everygirl wasn't supposed to enjoy it

If she did she was bad and everybody

Well boys will be boys don't feel anything

Take what you can

Marry a decent girl when the fun's done

Like no matter what we did we all were guilty

Maybe someone's mom and dad resented

What they missed and while

They were trying to pass it on us

We heard Elvis's song and

For the first time we made up our own mind

The first wave rebelled

I mean we danced even if we didn't know how

I mean Elvis made us move

Instead of standing mute he raised our voice

And when we hear ourselves something

Was changing you know like for the first time

We made a collective decision about choices

America hurriedly made Pat Boone

A general in the army they wanted us to join

But most of us held fast to Elvis

And the commandants around him

Chuck Berry Buddy Holly Little Richard

Bo Diddley Gene Vincent you know

Like a different civil war all over again

I mean you take don't be cruel

I want you I need you I love you

And jailhouse rock

Or you take Pat and his white bucks

Singing love letters in the sand

Hell man what's real here

I mean Pat at the beach in his white bucks

His ears getting sunburned told us

Something about old wave delusion

I mean wanting and needing and imprisonment

We all been to those places but what did

White bucks at the beach understand

Other than more straight line dancing

You know what I mean

Anyway man for a while we had a breather

Fresh energy to keep us from falling into the big sleep

Then before long Elvis got assassinated in all the fame

Taking a long time to die others seized

Control while Elvis rode the needle out

Never understanding what he'd done

It's like we were the baby boom because

Life needed a fresher start

I mean two world wars in a row is

Really crazy man

And Elvis even though he didn't know he said it

He showed it to us anyway and even though

We didn't know we heard it we heard it anyway

Man like he woke us up

And now they're trying to put us

Back to sleep so we'll see how it goes

Anyway look at the record man

Rock 'n' roll is based on revolution

Going way past 33 1/3

You gotta understand man he was

America's baby boom Che

I oughta know man I was in his army

By John Trudell