Homage to Jerry Lee "The Killer" Lewis

The poet John Berryman struggled with alcoholism all his adult life and then one bitter cold night he leaped from a Minneapolis bridge and splattered on the ice below. Jerry Lee Lewis has also struggled with alcoholism all of his life, but he keeps on rocking.

I think of John "the Poet" Berryman,
Who whined in verse
Of drink and suicide,
Then hopped off a Minnesota bridge,
And died.

And then I think of rockman Jerry Lee:
"What made Milwaukee famous
Has made a loser out of me."

Sleep if you can tonight, J.B.,
While old "Killer" keeps on mocking.
Make sure your coffin's soundproof tight,
Or your bones will soon be knocking.
Do you hear the music in the night?
Great balls of fire!
Old Jerry Lee's still rocking.

-- Warren F. O'Rourke, 1990