Did you Hear ?

 

Did you hear
Leonard Cohen died
His family, and his lovers
by his side.

Did you hear
Leonard Cohen died.
The music and the words won’t be quite
so gravelly
deep.

Did you hear
Leonard Cohen died.
Won’t be long before Irving and Abraham
Are by his side.

Did you hear
Leonard Cohen died,
Discarded mask
And costume that he wore,
To slip behind a curtain.

Did you hear
Leonard Cohen died.
A village and a nation sighed.

Did you hear
That last
First
soft breath open:
Go by brooks love
Where fish stare,
Go by brooks love
I will pass there.

 

Boatman’s Comtemplation

The boatman sits
In the bright sun
Wearing a tall black hat.
Crouched over
He plays
His stringed oar mandolin.
He stands,
stretching his thin
White clothed frame.
Smoothing a greying beard,
And taking off his hat,
Reverently
He contemplates both
Grace and the grave,
And all the islands,
And the shores across the way.
Then he deftly sits again
to play,
The new melodic moments
Eternal
In the day.

Leave Me

Who has said to death,
Go and leave me
For a season.
Let me rest easy.
You are a shirt
Blue and white
Or black
That will go
to Goodwill;
You are
wrinkled papers
and other things
Folded waiting
in the pockets
of time;
And we must make a
New start in
This latter time,
We must have the patience,
And be willing to say :
Leave me for
a season,
As a coursing
Resolute
Heart,
fresh in new thought.

One Way Train

Like a one way train

On a one way track
We’re not likely ever coming back.
Wonder if we ever will
And who knows
just where
We’re going now ?
We’ll only know when we
Arrive
We’ll just
Sit still and stare
And wonder why
and where we are
and whether
we will stay alive
Like a one way train
On a one way track
We’re likely not ever coming back.
Wonder if we ever will?
We’ll just sit there
ever silent
Still
Wondering where we are.
And why?
Are there answers that
Will fill the gap?
Are there answers to the
why and where on this cosmic map?

It’s not likely
so we just sit there wondering still
Wondering where
we’re at and listening to
the whistle shrill
Like a one way train
On a one way track
We’re likely not ever coming back.
Wonder if we ever will?
I wonder if we ever will?