With a Soft Static: Ilana Lombardo

April 17, 2020 Kate Belew With Ilana Lombardo (Brooklyn, New York)

Sometimes I think about Elvis
And if the magic of blue suede fades with time 

or if I'd ever lose the taste for champagne, eyeliner, 

the weight of a crown?

I put on a record now, alone in my new life and

let the reverberations of guitar chords enter my bones.

I am not sure I am happy but I am happy right now 

and yesterday feels so far away. 

I can almost point to its location on this map, past memphis and into 

some distant rural hamlet. 

Sometimes I think about some Tennessee mountain home where 

the front door is always unlocked and

we drink whiskey on the porch together looking at the sun. 

The needle drags against the vinyl with a soft static and I 

too, soft static, sing my own song.