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Alejandro Escovedo 
photo by Ed Perlstein

Greetings to all Poet Pubsters assembled here today. Lisa here, serving up a prompt, goodies, and liquid refreshments. Today will be Prosery, where you write a prose story instead of a poem, using a given line of poetry or song lyric to inspire you. Word limit is 144 words, not including title, and the given line must be used without adding or taking away any words in between. Punctuation may be changed.

I first heard, “Bury Me,” by Alejandro Escovedo a couple of years ago and it stuck with me. Here is a person doing a personal reckoning on how he is living his life. In a moment of self-reflection, he considers what he would like to see happen if he dies right then or in the near future. Doing a little research on Alejandro and the context of the song within his discography, I learned that in 1992, right around the time he wrote it for his debut album, “Gravity,” he learned that he had Hepatitis C.

Alejandro EscovedoAlejandro in 2024

After years of treatment, Escovedo, now age 75, is still standing. He brought a revamped version of, “Bury Me” back, on his 2024 album, “Echo Dancing.”

The lyrics make me think of Step 4 in the Alcoholics Anonymous’ 12 steps, where one does a fearless moral inventory.

Now that you know a little bit about the song and the song writer, your mission today, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story of up to 144 words using the line:

Bury me with the lies I told

Bury Me
Alejandro Escovedo

Bury Me
If I should die 'fore I turn 43
Bury me beneath the justice tree
Bury me with the lies I told
Bury me with the rusted sword

If I should die 'fore I turn 46
Lay me next to old Saint Chris
Dress me in my suit of blue
And my favorite picture of you

If I should not see 49
Bury me with my last silver dime
You might get a long distance call
Might tell a lie, might tell it all

If I should die 'fore I turn 51
Bury me with the loaded gun
So I may lose my misery
Please erase my memory

If I should not make my way up there
If I should find myself somewhere
Where it's always cold inside

Written by: Alejandro Escovedo
Album: Gravity
Released: 1992; re-released on Echo Dancing album (2024)

Here’s how to take part in the Prosery Prompt:
• Write a piece of flash fiction or other prose up of up to or exactly 144 words, including the given line from the song lyric.
• Post your Prosery piece on your blog and link back to this post.
• Place the link to your actual post (not your blog url) on the Mister Linky page.
• Don’t forget to check the little box to accept use/privacy policy.
• Please visit other blogs and comment on their posts – reciprocation is the life of this challenge.

Prompt ends on Saturday at 3 p.m.