Elvis, the 50,000,000th Ballad of the King - poem

            50,000,000th Ballad of the King      

An early death foreshadowed the King

From the day he was born in '35

His twin brother stillborn came first

Then Elvis Presley emerged...alive

Wanting for his birthday in '46

A bike to ride, or a .22 to aim

Instead he was given a guitar and

The world would never be the same

The King and his Blue Moon Boys

Bill Black and Scotty Moore

Jumped to the jive and played to the score

When their world exploded in '54

He rose to royalty with his rhythm and rock

Entrancing the youth with his songs

Gyrating his hips and twitching his lip

By '55 fans grew by the throngs

Hollywood called in the summer of '56

They would call 32 times more

With his Memphis Mafia from Graceland 

He bought Cadillacs by the score

Colonel Tom became his running mate

He ran the King's court greedily

The King joined the Army in '58

A year later he met his bride to be

He lost his title with the English invasion

Four years did he unwillingly abdicate

He rose again, a dark knight

When he flashed on the screen in '68 

Once again his kingdom, it grew as did he

Around the world in '73

The power in his voice renewed

Heard all over the world from Hawaii

The world it crumbled in '77

When the king was found drugged and dead

He died that year upon his throne

Yet he lives on still in my head

Enquiring minds see him still

Pumping gas at desolate stations

Or at 7-11, working the till

Hips grooving in geriatric gyrations

Now numbering more than 100,000 strong

His offspring idolize yet

Jumpsuited and scarved, sideburned and wigged

None of them will let us forget

            Attention ladies and gentlemen...

            Elvis has left the building

            TCB 4ever and...

            Long live the King...

 Thank you, thank you very much!

Michael Calvert