They take to the stage, hillbilly boys jeaned,
Hound dogs all shook up, snake-slim and threatening,
With surfing wave of raven-black hair
And bodies sprayed way down with midnight leather;

And old guys cheeseburger-overweight, white suits
Decorated like Christmas cakes, and breathless
As they climb up the Lord-given mountain.
In this heartbreak hotel where they’ll be lonesome

Tonight. And they came, it seems, from Memphis,
Or took a gamble by leaving Las Vegas,
In their blue suede shoes, with their king-size dreams;
These sleek, cool cats and fat, bejewelled snowmen

 Hoping to reach the judges’ wooden hearts;
And burn their boring lives as car mechanics,
Motel porters and male nurses in songs
That once sent a shiver down jukeboxes.

Peter Thabit Jones © 2022

Published in GARDEN OFCLOUDS/NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Peter Thabit Jones, 2020