Bird On The Wire Poem by Leonard Cohen

I love this poem but it irritates me to see it here in a botched version obviously Mr Cohen didn't post it himself what happened to the lines: 'like a beast with it's horn like a baby stillborn I have torn everyone who's reached out to me' ? ? ?

FULL TEXT: __________ ''Bird On The Wire'' Like a bird on the wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free. Like a worm on a hook, like a knight from some old fashioned book I have saved all my ribbons for thee. If I, if I have been unkind, I hope that you can just let it go by. If I, if I have been untrue I hope you know it was never to you. Like a baby, stillborn, like a beast with his horn I have torn everyone who reached out for me. But I swear by this song and by all that I have done wrong I will make it all up to thee. I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch, he said to me, You must not ask for so much. And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door, she cried to me, Hey, why not ask for more? Oh like a bird on the wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free. .

[About Cohen, from 'Wiki'] Leonard Norman Cohen, CC GOQ (born 21 September 1934) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, painter, poet, and novelist. His work has explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships. Cohen has been inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honor. In 2011, Cohen received a Princess of Asturias Awards for literature. Cohen was born on 21 September 1934 in Westmount, Quebec, an English-speaking area of Montreal, into a middle-class Jewish family. His mother, Marsha (Masha) Klonitsky, was the daughter of a Talmudic writer, Rabbi Solomon Klonitsky-Kline, of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. His paternal grandfather, whose family had emigrated from Poland, was Lyon Cohen, founding president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. His father, Nathan Cohen, who owned a substantial clothing store, died when Cohen was 9 years old. On the topic of being a Kohen, Cohen has said that I had a very Messianic childhood. He told Richard Goldstein in 1967, I was told I was a descendant of Aaron, the high priest.

............this is very nice, I like the shorter version better, simply because the dark imagery is left off ★

5 Stars full on Top for the singer, the composer, the song-writer, the poet, the wanderer

The complete form or the brevity, both are as beautiful as Leonard only said, so aptly worded, long or short, Leonard IS immortal

Dr Fab's lyrics give the full picture of one of Leonard Cohen's greatest songs, one which I love.

Like a worm on a hook, like a knight from some old fashioned book I have saved all my ribbons for thee. If I, if I have been unkind, I hope that you can just let it go by. Wonderful comparisons.. thank u. tony

Very nice poem. Trying to be truthful to one's feelings and accepting limitations of human effort.