I Thought Elvis Was Italian

From I Thought Elvis Was Italian, published by Wolsak & Wynn in 2008.

pictures of my father slick-haired & sideburned
 my uncles had all his albums
 older cousins played the hawaii concert
 whenever I was over
 thought he had to change his name
 like dean martin did

 the leather
 the rings & gold chains
 the way he moved his hips
 his lips
 the leather
 the sicilian black of his hair
 the way he borrowed the tune of “o sole mio”
 for his song “it’s now or never”
 his best friend named esposito
 the leather
 his fixation with cars
 the way he looked at women
 the way he put on weight
 how close he was to his mother
 the leather
 the black velvet posters in everyone’s basement
 movies dubbed in italian
 he was played at weddings after tarantellas
 the leather the rings
 gold chains

 if he’s still alive he’s in his 70s
 eyeing his blood pressure
 sitting in the courtyard of his villa
 in some tiny southern italian village
 deserted by emigration
 a new graceland

 talking sideways since the stroke
 he sometimes plays the mandolin
 sings in an ancient dialect
 known only to farmers
 he smiles at chickens
 who peck at his feet
 cats dance in the shade
his eyes moving slowly
under a mediterranean sun