When I have not rage or sorrow, and you depart from me, then I am most afraid. When the belly is full, and the mind has its sayings, then I fear for my soul; I rush to you as a child at night breaks into its parents’ room. Do not forget me in my satisfaction.… Continue reading Leonard Cohen
When I have not rage or sorrow, and you depart from me, then I am most afraid. When the belly is full, and the mind has its sayings, then I fear for my soul; I rush to you as a child at night breaks into its parents’ room. Do not forget me in my satisfaction.… Continue reading Leonard Cohen
I almost went to bedwithout rememberingthe four white violetsI put in the button-holeof your green sweater and how i kissed you thenand you kissed meshy as though I’dnever been your lover — Leonard Cohen, “Song,” The Spice-Box of Earth. (Jonathan Cape, London 1973.; F edition 1973)
It is fabled that we slowly lose the gift of speech with animals, that birds no longer visit our windowsills to converse. As our eyes grow accustomed to sight they armor themselves against wonder. — Leonard Cohen, The Favorite Game. (Vintage; Reprint edition October 14, 2003) Originally published January 1st 1963.
As I grew older, I understood that instructions came with this voice. What were these instructions? The instructions were never to lament casually. And if one is to express the great inevitable defeat that awaits us all, it must be done within the strict confines of dignity and beauty. — Leonard Cohen
Reach into the vineyard of arteries for my heart.Eat the fruit of ignorance and share with me the mist andfragrance of dying. ― Leonard Cohen, from “Lines from My Grandfather’s Journal,” The Spice-Box of Earth. (Jonathan Cape, London 1973.; F edition 1973) Originally published 1961.
I often think about youwhen I’m lying alone inmy room with my mouthopen and the remotelost somewhere in the bed. — Leonard Cohen, “The Remote,” The Book of Longing. (McClelland & Stewart; Reprint edition March 27, 2007)
I heard of a manwho says words so beautifullythat if he only speaks their namewomen give themselves to him.If I am dumb beside your bodywhile silence blossoms like tumors on our lips.it is because I hear a man climb stairs and clear his throat outside the door. — Leonard Cohen, “I heard of a man,”… Continue reading Leonard Cohen
I thought shadows fell deceptively,urging memories of perfect rhyme.I thought I could bestow beautylike a benediction and that your half-dark fleshwould answer to the prayer.I thought I understood your facebecause I had seen it painted twiceor a hundred times, or kissed itwhen it was carved in stone.With only a breath, a vague turning,you uncovered shadowsmore… Continue reading Leonard Cohen
When we are apart / and the moon is full // My longing / paints your hands / on the full moon — Leonard Cohen, from “Notebook Selections,” The Flame: Poems, Notebooks, Lyrics, Drawings, eds. Robert Faggen and Alexandra Pleshoyano (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2018)
The Vale of Soul-Making 