A visit to Cave Hill cemetery forces a dislocation in time.  My sense of being “in the flow” stutters,  stops.  The watch on my wrist “keeps time” and my cell time display functions.  But in the presence of the dead, and with statues of angels standing watch —life itself strikes me as palpably temporary.  Like an interlude of joyous reciprocity between the organism and the earth from which we came, and to which we must return.  The blue of the sky, the girth and altitude of the old oak, the delicate curve of a water lily, held in contemplation for a while. Then it all fades.  Angels and Demons.  Our time here is brief, and given to struggle.  “Who am I, why am I here?” are the self interrogations of a reflective being.  Is this how we learn to become human? The answers are not given. They are made.  Angels and demons are interchangeable.  Was that an angel or a demon that I wrestled with?  I survived—thus it  must have been an angel.

This tune has haunted me since I first heard it.

Yeah, I know it’s about Elvis.  I just think that it is about a lot more.

Black Velvet  by Alannah Myles

Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell
Jimmy Rogers on the Victrola up high
Mama’s dancin’ with baby on her shoulder
The sun is settin’ like molasses in the sky
The boy could sing, knew how to move, everything
Always wanting more, he’d leave you longing for

Black velvet and that little boy’s smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that’ll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please

Up in Memphis the music’s like a heatwave
White lightning, bound to drive you wild
Mama’s baby’s in the heart of every school girl
“Love me tender” leaves ’em cryin’ in the aisle
The way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true
Always wanting more, he’d leave you longing for

Black velvet and that little boy’s smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that’ll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please

Every word of every song that he sang was for you
In a flash he was gone, it happened so soon, what could
You do?

Black velvet and that little boy’s smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that’ll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please

Black velvet and that little boy’s smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that’ll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please
If you please, if you please, if you please