please help me find this poem!

[electricleea]

i believe the title has the word 'girl' in it, although i could be wrong..it's about a girl who is imperfect to others yet still beautiful to lc, and she is unsatisfied with her image..very short as well
many thanks in advance!
leea

[margaret]

Could it be "Portrait of a girl"? which appeared in Energy of slaves and more recently the larger collection published 1993 titled Stranger Music.

PORTRAIT OF A GIRL

She sits behind the wooden shutters
on a very hot day
The room is dark, the photographs gloomy
She is profoundly worried
that her thighs are too big
and her ass fat and ugly
Also she is too hairy
The lucky American girls are not hairy
She sweats too much
There is a fine mist caught
on the dark hairs above her mouth
I wish I could show her
what such hair and haunches
do for one like me
Unfortunatelly I don't know who she is
or where she lives
or if indeed she lives at all
There is no information about this person
except in these lines
and let me make it clear
as far as I'm concerned
she has no problem whatsoever.

[lizzytysh]

....and how can real women everywhere not 'love' a man, who expresses thoughts such as these?

....or, perhaps more accurately, how can real women everywhere not love the poetry of a man, who expresses thoughts such as these?

In his work, Leonard so aptly and without patronizing gives voice, amongst many other things, to the insecurities and fears of both men and women, that causes people to feel understood, cared about, and accepted whilst offering, even giving, them hope .

Leea, this surely is the one, right ? Welcome to the Forum !

~ Elizabeth

[Tchocolatl]

I came across this poem while I was reading a bio of FRIDA KAHLO and just after having read Beautiful Losers and The Favorite Game. What struck me at the time was the similitude of their art in their love for freedom, the sufferings they have like a fate, and also in self portraits (paintings for the woman, poems, for the man (it was before Leonard Cohen posted some drawings of himself here)) in which they pictured themselves as ugly people, I think, because of this suffering that they wanted to express. I think.

When I came on this site I saw the paintings of Elizabeth Laishley inspired by the songs of Leonard Cohen, I found that those paintings where similar also with the style of Frida Kahlo but without all the pain.

Because of these coincidences, for me, there is a link between Kahlo and Cohen.

Both Kahlo and Cohen find a way to take care or their own suffering in their art but Cohen seems to have a gift to soothe others as well.

[Tchocolatl]

I forgot to tell that in the bio of KAHLO (another site, yes) there was a scene like Portrait of a Girl : she was desperate by her broken body in a hotel room of New York while the man she pasionnately loved had an affair with a beautiful American woman.

[Moonlight]

In his work, Leonard so aptly and without patronizing gives voice, amongst many other things, to the insecurities and fears of both men and women, that causes people to feel understood, cared about, and accepted whilst offering, even giving, them hope

Well, I don't know...in actuality all of his paramours have been very beautiful women...hairy, sweating, fat-thighed, mustachioed girls only exsist for LC in this poem...real life is another matter. This is not a criticism of LC, just an observation.


M

[lizzytysh]

I considered what you're saying, Moonlight, before posting my response [and briefly even considered mentioning it in some way, along the lines of, "I guess the real proof, of course, would be in the pudding"]. However, I figured someone would mention Leonard's track record with beautiful women. Who knows, however, the extent of his real-life relationships. Must you bed someone to sincerely encourage them that they are fine? Must he , personally, be the one to do that? He still knows that there are those out there who deserve and would be loved, if they can accept themselves long enough to allow it. He still accomplishes bringing hope and understanding to many feeling hopeless and misunderstood....and many of those are people who have never laid eyes on him, much less had intimacy be an option.

[Tchocolatl]

Lizzy and Moonlight, a poem is not a bio, a poem is fiction, even if it could be a self portrait in some way.

[lizzytysh]

Oh, thank you, Tchocolatl, for whisking me forth from my idiocy, with one fell swoop

[Tchocolatl]

That was not what I was doing, you, idiot. Just wanted to stressed that we do not know why he wrote this poem, and (you are right), about all the women in his life. Well (well-well) See you later, now!

[lizzytysh]

Duh. Really? Somehow, the stressing seemed superfluous.

Which do you think is the best 'idiot' look ~ or ? When you call out names like that, you might want to attach the most appropriate visual aid, just to ensure that point isn't lost on the dim amongst us . Who knows? Could be you .

[Tchocolatl]

Lizzy, sorry to have hurt your feelings. It was jokes all the time. Harmless soft laughters.

For me, I am what I am, and people can see what they want on me, the thruth or their own vision about be. I don't care as long as everybody is alive and well. Have a nice day.

[Moonlight]

Lizzy and Moonlight, a poem is not a bio, a poem is fiction, even if it could be a self portrait in some way.

Tchocolate...you assume too much...I did not imply the poem was a bio...I merely pointed out the inconsistency between his life and this poem's paen to the ugly of this world. (During one of his tours, he had the "No Fat Chicks Allowed" bumper sticker plastered on his bus.)

What struck me at the time was the similitude of their art in their love for freedom, the sufferings they have like a fate, and also in self portraits (paintings for the woman, poems, for the man (it was before Leonard Cohen posted some drawings of himself here)) in which they pictured themselves as ugly people, I think, because of this suffering that they wanted to express. I think.

A man can get away with being "ugly." Although, I'm not sure I buy the idea that LC really views himself that way. I think LC's height bothered him more (just take a look at the heels on his boots!!) than his "strong" features. At any rate...it sure didn't hurt him in the romance department.

M

[lizzytysh]

No problem, Tchocolatl. Thanks for your apology.

[lizzytysh]

There was always some controversy regarding that/those bumper sticker[s] ~ my understanding was that it was one. Not sure if you meant multiple stickers [with "plastered"], or if that's just your way of communicating the distaste of its [just one] being there in the first place. No one has really clarified whether the sticker was there with Leonard's knowledge/awareness/okay. I got the impression from the controversy that tour buses may not have been owned by any particular performer, but leased for particular tours....and any previous performer [or even a fan] could've slapped it on there.