What The Heart Believes (Poetry)

There’s a man down the block says he’s Elvis
and he plays an old battered guitar
there’s his hat on the pavement for pennies
and beside it he’s chalked his own star

He sings all those songs from the movies
the ones we remember so well
and he sounds so incredibly like him
that the difference ain’t easy to tell

When you look you can see there’s a likeness
strip the years and the wrinkles away
could it be there is more to the story
than his skill and appearance convey?

He inhabits the skin of a legend
that voice weathered thinner by age
but the spirit remains and the power
now the cold city street is his stage

He draws passersby close to listen
and some linger long in his thrall
while none seem to question or wonder
how the show still goes on despite all

He’s Elvis. There are some who would swear it
true performances never deceive
for echoes revive that past magic
once the ears tell the heart to believe