Poem 111

Each man
has a way to betray
the revolution
This is mine

L.Cohen from "The Energy of Slaves"

My lady can sleep from

My lady can sleep
Upon a handkerchief
Or if it be Fall
Upon a fallen leaf.

I have seen the hunters
kneel before her hem
Even in her sleep
She turns away from them.

The only gift they offer
Is their abiding grief
I pull out my pockets
For a handkerchief or leaf.

L.Cohen "The Spice-Box of Earth"

I heard of a man ...

I heard of a man
who says words so beautifully
that if he only speaks their name
women give themselves to him.

If I am dumb beside your body
while silence blossoms like tumors on our lips.
it is because I hear a man climb stairs and clear his throat outside the door.

L.Cohen from "Let Us Compare Mythologies"

I Wonder How Many People in This City

I wonder how many people in this city
live in furnished rooms.
Late at night when i look out at the buildings
I swear I see a face in every window
looking back at me
and when I turn away
I wonder how many go back to their desks
and write this down.

L.Cohen from "The Spice-Box of Earth"

THE PRO

I leave my silence to a co-operative of poetswho have already bruised their mouths against it.
I leave my homesick charm to the scavengers ofspare change who work the old artistic corners.
I leave the shadow of my manly groin to those whowrite for pay.
I leave to several jealous men a second-rate legendof my life.
To those few high school girlswho preferred my work to Dylan'sI leave my stone earand my disposable Franciscan ambitions

L.Cohen from the Nashville Notebooks of 1969