Celie and Elvis

I wrote a couple
of damn fine essays

in my prime.
Lost now to time

and my filing system.

If I managed to find them
they’d be yellow,

my thoughts on
Brautigan, Ginsberg

and Rimbaud
My niece, Celie,

just shredded Elvis
in 1500 words

or less. She’s a 14-year-old
murderess,

burning down Graceland,
destroying the evidence.

She’s not better than me, yet,
but, she’s going to be.

I hope one day she
writes the world right

and treats me nice.

–January 7, 2018