The Elvis I knew well was spirtual

 

The Elvis I knew well was spiritual.

The books he’d read on mystics, yoga, Jung

and Jesus, Buddha—long before your digital

technology kicked in and Mao Tse Tung

became an icon you could click—he tried

to buy enlightenment. He thought a check

might do the trick: big bucks, love-tendered, wide

and blank. No deal. No ouija board, no deck

of tarot cards could trump his fate. His star

beamed underneath (or far beyond) the God

he knew as blackness, gospel, blues. As far

as light-years went, Elvis could ride and nod.

He couldn’t get high on glory, glamour, fame. 

Blissless, he drugged you with his moves, his name.

 

 

-- Al Young