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1.
Saved From The Fire:
the title of the poetry collection
you might have written,
aka Everything That Isn't Embarrassing.
2.
Yetnikoff told you, 'We know you're great Leonard' -
when you went to see him in NY,
songs in hand like a pauper -
'but we're not sure if you're any good'.
Your North American record sales
had long since dried up,
out of respect, he listened,
said he didn't like the mix.
You appreciated his cold-blooded honesty,
and found a new label.
3.
It's January in Montreal,
the snow's piling up,
and I'm thinking of you Leonard.
It's the time of year
you'd have escaped
our winter doldrums
to Hydra
the place you bought
with an inheritance from your grandmother
for your restless spirit
to blacken pages
in the mediterranean heat.
4.
Later, head shaven,
you'd be with Roshi up in Baldy,
where your peripatetic soul
found temporary occupation,
walking the moutainside paths,
cooking, washing your master's feet,
and occasionally driving his car to town
for grocery shopping.
5.
I relate to your desire
to keep moving,
to follow one call or another,
but also to stay put,
snuggle into the robed silence
of Quebec winter.
I have lived around the corner
from your upscale childhood home
for a while now,
longer than you ever did.
There's a shovel
on the porch
and a bag of rock salt
to keep the path
from the street
to my door
clean.
5 comments:
A nice tribute to your neighbor and -- dare I say -- your hero? Different from Dylan, who was admittedly something of a chameleon, Mr. Cohen was true to his nature. He was who he was -- a poet, a lover, Montrealer, a Jew. The very fact that he didn't change his name speaks volumes. And even though he spent a lot of time with Roshi, his poetry and music is so much more informed by his Judaism than by his years in the Zen monastery.
When asked, as a young man embarking on a singing career, if he ever considered changing his name (like Dylan) Leonard answered that he had. “To September” he said with an impish grin. “Leonard September?” she asked, curiously. “September Cohen” he said smiling.
Yes, I saw that in the recent documentary that we watched. It's called: "Halleujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song". 89% on the tomatometer (Rotten Tomatoes). Highly recommended!
Saw it last week. Thoroughly enjoyable. I’m not sure if it was in that film or somewhere else, but there was commentary by a rabbi who speculated that the reason Cohen said ‘September’ was because it corresponds to the month of Elul, when Jews prepare for the high holidays. I laughed when I heard that. More likely it’s because Cohen’s birthday is in September (like mine, his on the 21st, mine on the 18th). Lol.
Ahh ... born under the same stars as Leonard Cohen. In the same country. Almost the same street!
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