to an ancient hometown friend
I chose a lonely country
broke from love
scorned the fraternity of war
I polished my tongue against the pumice moon
floated my soul in cherry wine
a perfumed barge for Lords of Memory
to languish on to drink to whisper out
their store of strength
as if beyond the mist along the shore
their girls their power still obeyed
like clocks wound for a thousand years
I waited until my tongue was sore
Brown petals wind like fire around my poems
I aimed them at the stars but
like rainbows they were bent
before they sawed the world in half
Who can trace the canyoned paths
cattle have carved out of time
wandering from meadowlands to feasts
Layer after layer of autumn leaves
are swept away
Something forgets us perfectly
PARASITES OF HEAVEN
ONE NIGHT I BURNED
One night I burned the house I loved,
It lit a perfect ring
In which I saw some weeds and stone
Beyond — not anything.
Certain creatures of the air
Frightened by the night,
They came to see the world again
And perished in the light.
Now I sail from sky to sky
And all the blackness sings
Against the boat that I have made
Of mutilated wings.
1960
I SEE YOU ON A GREEK MATTRESS
I see you on a Greek mattress
reading the Book of Changes,
Lebanese candy in the air.
On the whitewashed wall I see
you raise another hexagram
for the same old question:
how can you be free?
I see you cleaning your pipe
with the hairpin
of somebody’s innocent night.
I see the plastic Evil Eye
pinned to your underwear.
Once again you throw the pennies,
once again you read
how the pieces of the world
have changed around your question.
Did you get to the Himalayas?
Did you visit that monk in New Jersey?
I never answered any of your letters.
Oh Steve, do you remember me?
1963
SNOW IS FALLING
Snow is falling.
There is a nude in my room.
She surveys the wine-coloured carpet.
She is eighteen.
She has straight hair.
She speaks no Montreal language.
She doesn’t feel like sitting down.
She shows no gooseflesh.
We can hear the storm.
She is lighting a cigarette
from the gas range.
She holds back her long hair.
1958
FINGERPRINTS
Give me back my fingerprints
My fingertips are raw
If I don’t get my fingerprints
I have to call the Law
I touched you once too often
& I don’t know who I am
My fingerprints were missing
When I wiped away the jam
I called my fingerprints all night
But they don’t seem to care
The last time that I saw them
They were leafing thru your hair
I thought I’d leave this morning
So I emptied out your drawer
A hundred thousand fingerprints
Floated to the floor
You hardly stooped to pick them up
You don’t count what you lose
You don’t even seem to know
Whose fingerprints are whose
When I had to say goodbye
You weren’t there to find
You took my fingerprints away
So I would love your mind
I don’t pretend to understand
Just what you mean by that
But next time I’ll inquire
Before I scratch your back
I wonder if my fingerprints
Get lonely in the crowd
There are no others like them
& that should make them proud
But now you want to marry me
& take me down the aisle
& throw confetti fingerprints
You know that’s not my style
Sure I’d like to marry
But I won’t face the dawn
With any girl who knew me
When my fingerprints were on
1966
A CROSS DIDN’T FALL ON ME
A cross didn’t fall on me
when I went for hot dogs
and the all-night Greek
slave in the Silver Gameland
didn’t think I was his brother
Love me because nothing happens
I believe the rain will not
make me feel like a feather
when it comes tonight after
the streetcars have stopped
because my size is definite
Love me because nothing happens
Do you have any idea how
many movies I had to watch
before I knew surely
that I would love you
when the lights woke up
Love me because nothing happens
Here is a headline July 14
in the city of Montreal
Intervention décisive de Pearson
à la conference du Commonwealth
That was yesterday
Love me because nothing happens
Stars and stars and stars
keep it to themselves
Have you ever noticed how private
a wet tree is
a curtain of razor blades
Love me because nothing happens
Why should I be alone
if what I say is true
I confess I mean to find
a passage or forge a passport
or talk a new language
Love me because nothing happens
I confess I meant to grow
wings and lose my mind
I confess that I’ve
forgotten what for
Why wings and a lost mind
Love me because nothing happens
SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN
SUZANNE
Suzanne takes you down.
to her place near the river
you can hear the boats go by
you can spend the night beside her
And you know that she’s half crazy
but that’s why you want to be there
and she feeds you tea and oranges
that come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
that you have no love to give her
she gets you on her wavelength
and she lets the river answer
that you’ve always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
you want to travel blind
and you know that she can trust you
for you’ve touched her perfect body
with your mind
And Jesus was a sailor
when he walked upon the water
and he spent a long time watching
from his lonely wooden tower
and when he knew for certain
only drowning men could see him
he said All men will be sailors then
until the sea shall free them
but he himself was broken
long before the sky would open
forsaken, almost human
he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
you want to travel blind
and you think maybe you’ll trust him
for he’s touched your perfect body
with his mind
Now Suzanne takes your hand
and she leads you to the river
she is wearing rags and feathers
from Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
on our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
there are children in the morning
they are leaning out for love
they will lean that way forever
while Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
you want to travel blind
and you know that you can trust her
for she’s touched your perfect body
with her mind
TEACHERS
I met a woman long ago
Her hair the black that black can go
Are you a teacher of the heart
Soft she answered No
I met a girl across the sea
Her hair the gold that gold can be
Are you a teacher of the heart
Yes but not
