Return to CONTENTS 2015

Olivia Aroha Giles

Elvis – A True Story

 

I am bipolar don’t you know

certified from head to toe

 

it reads, high functioning, sparkling wit

alas, hallucinates a bit

 

So, on a little manic buzz

I went to Scotland 2001

 

to see the place my genes begun

lift a kilt and have some fun

 

I found myself aboard a train

from Inverness to Aberdeen

 

disembarking on a whim

ended up in (reads the map) Elgin

 

The B&B I chose to stay

had Bellevue something in the name

 

comfy warm and kindly run

by a sweet Canadian

 

Hunger drew me out of doors

to find a place to sit and gorge

 

a beer or three I could imbibe

and local yarns to pass the time

 

On the street I met this bloke

clad in black from head to toe

 

reading menus on a wall

debating Chinese, Thai, Tandoor

 

His hair slicked back in da curl

black hair, blue eyes a pouting scowl

 

a swagger and a tuned guitar

‘Yes ma’am’ in a Memphis drawl

 

impressive side-burned chops

It had to be, how could it not

 

he was Elvis, Yes the King

right down to his pinky ring

 

Not the jumpsuit fringe and weight

the leather one from ‘68

 

But, as I said when we commenced

I can’t trust my eyes weren’t telling fibs

 

So I poked him and he blood and bone

Said, ‘Excuse me’ – in his southern tone

 

‘So Ma’am, would you care to dine?’

and took me for a beer and pie

 

We sat talked laughed and cried

I told him that I’d heard he died

 

he smiled with his Elvis lips

leaned across and pinched my chips

 

We found we shared the B&B

which was a magic sign to me

 

He asked if he could walk me home

So through the silent town we roamed

 

and stumbling drunk along the streets

he sang a concert just for me

 

‘Viva las Vegas’, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’,

‘Love Me Tender’, ‘GI Blues’

 

Then lost in fields of barley green

he did then start seducing me

 

I woke in the morning all alone

sore in places he’d known and known

 

I couldn’t decide how to feel

or whether Elvis was really real

 

Over the years I’ve often dreamed

Of all the places I have been

 

to Elgin my thoughts do wing

to the night I shagged the King

 



 
 
Olivia Aroha Giles is a writer and an artist from ‘The Nui’ who lives in ‘P-Town’. She writes adult and young-adult novels, historical non-fiction and illustrated story books. She uses her middle name on her books so people know she’s Māori. She loves egg and chips.

 

Back to Contents | Read contribution

Permanent link to this article: https://4thfloorjournal.co.nz/past-issues/4th-floor-2015/contents-2015/olivia-aroha-giles-elvis-a-true-story/