Saved From The Fire

CLICK HERE TO HEAR AUTHOR READ

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.