Oscar Mireles performing his Elvis Presley was a Chicano Poem

 
 















Elvis Presley was a Chicano

In the latest edition
of the National Inquirer
it was revealed that
Elvis Presley,
Yes…the legendary Elvis
was a Chicano

Fans were outraged
critics cite his heritage
as an important influence
I was stunned
Can you believe it?

Well…I didn’t really at first
but then I remembered…
his jet back hair
you know with the little curl in front
sort of reminded me of my cousin “Chuy”

Elvis always wore
either those tight black pants
like the ones in West Side Story
or a baggy pinstriped Zoot Suit
Pachuco Style
with a pair of blue suede shoes to match

Then I figured no, it couldn’t be
So I traced his story back to his hometown
a little pueblo outside Tupelo, Mississippi
s son of migrant sharecroppers
looking for a way out
of rural poverty

Let’s see… Elvis joined the army
Maybe he enlisted with his “buddies”
They never made a movie about it
But they fought hard anyways

I read somewhere that Chicanos
have won more Silver Stars
and Purple Hearts then any other ethnic group
Maybe Elvis was a Chicano
I wasn’t convinced yet!

Elvis was a Swooner, a dancer, a ladies man
and always won the girl
that hated him
in the beginning of the movie
he had to be a latin lover or something
even Valentino and Sinatra has a little Italian in them

Elvis played guitar
like my Uncle Carlos,
always hitting the same four notes
over and over again

But now, I think I have figured it out
It was probably that Colonel Parkers idea
to change his cultural identity,
since it was just after the second big war
and the Zoot Suit Riots

it wasn’t the right time
for a Chicano Superstar
to be pelvising around
the Ed Sullivan Show,
late on a Sunday night

I think is was just a hoax,
to convince more people to buy that newspaper

If Elvis Presley really
was a Chicano
He wouldn’t have settled
to die alone,
in an empty mansion

With no family around,
No “familia” around

Who cared enough
to cry