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Elvis

by louisa conrad

BEFORE YOU EAT OUR LITTLE GOAT, ELVIS Say grace Say Graceland Say the land that graced his presence presented: apple blossoms, raspberry, sun kissed clover and vetch Say you’re sorry Say you’re hungry Say you’re sorry but you’re hungry Say you’re grateful for good soil, for his fresh, milk-fed-flesh rubbed with parsley, salt and oil— pepper medley, twig of birch, sprig of mint, splash of port, fresh squeezed lemon, Hefeweisen, garden rosemary, leaf of aspen, cherry sapling, sugar maple, sweet molasses, hophornbeam— Pinch of thyme (Hint of urine in the wind) Say his voice that swelled at sun rise has achieved a frightful distance Say the dead stay dead a while then stop— Then live again in another measure