(......01july20) In A Minor Key-Letter To Leonard Cohen* Poem by Max Reif

(......01july20) In A Minor Key-Letter To Leonard Cohen*

Rating: 3.0


Dear Leonard Cohen,

Strumming and singing
my favorite songs of yours,
all from your first couple albums,

still eases me into
a vantage point
nothing else I know
has ever approached,

a place in my heart
nothing else has reached.

Yes, it is salted with tears,
but the tears
make everything green there
shine with unearthly beauty,
and reveal somehow the holiness
of all the lost souls.

I have no clue
by what alchemy
you are able
to sing sorrow

in a way that brings
such a stillness,
such a sense of beauty,
if not joy.
___

*note: for anyone curious (I already got one e-mail query, and I'm happy to share) , my 'top 6' are:

'A Bunch Of Lonesome Heroes'
'Seems So Long Ago, Nancy'
'So Long, Marianne'
'Stories of the Street'
'Stranger Song' and
'Story of Isaac'...

I think there's no rhyme or reason in it, or thyme either, which is what I typed originally, except personal experience and associations.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Colin J... 20 July 2007

I missed an opportunity to see him in edinburgh and have regretted it ever since. Another great poem about Leonard. colin J...

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Joyce Goodale 05 June 2013

You missed Light as The Breeze. Ohhh, , how that lyric poem moves me. I remember being loved like that once. Thank you Leonard for the memories.

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Cristy Parker 13 May 2012

I absolutely ADORE this man...how do I get to MEET him? ? ? I live in a teensy Midwest town, so forget Concerts...He probably doesn't need an extra slave anyways, huh.... O GOD, just to feel his arms around me...... Favorite song Hallelujah, obviously...and then Suzanne.

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Audrey Stephenson 12 August 2007

Beautifully written Max. I have a deep appreciation for Cohen myself.

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Gregory Collins 11 August 2007

there is a crack in everything, it is how the light gets in :) collins

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Joseph Daly 21 July 2007

Max, it is so good to come across a poem of yours. Cohen was/is a better singer/songwriter than he was a poet (God! He was crap!) . This piece is so excellently put and so sharply executexd, better than mine on the same subjct.

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