the man who would be king

the man who would be king

was shot through the ear by a would-be assassin

from an elevated distance some 100 yards away. 

It was the top, flappy part of the ear which rolls slowly

at a downward pace as he spoke to his subjects

from an outdoor lectern in Butler, about 40 miles north from

the pawnshop on the corner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

as a grade-schooler, I’d harmonize the tune of the same name

rocking to and fro on the canopied swing in the backyard with my cousins.

other favorites harmonized were:

“now is the hour”(when we must say goodby) and

“down by the station” (early in the morning) where little

puffer-bellies sat on the tracks all in a row.

yep,..times were simpler back then, slow and steady, so much so that

when a politician was shot in the head, "it exploded like a watermelon"

as the sure-handed assassin's aim struck true to its mark.

("exploded like a watermelon" commentary by whacky Tony Sasso) / 11/22/'63)