First song he made was Villanelle For Our Time, a jazz improvisation on FR Scott's poem, with Anjani, on May 6, 1999: http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/anjani.html. In June he published this drawing on The Files: http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/dearroshi.html (read The Webmaster's Note also).
Leaving Mt. Baldy
I came down from the mountain
after many years of study
and rigorous practice.
I left my robes hanging on a peg
in the old cabin
where I had sat so long
and slept so little.
I finally understood
I had no gift
for Spiritual Matters.
‘Thank You, Beloved’
I heard a heart cry out
as I entered the stream of cars
on the Santa Monica Freeway,
westbound for L.A.
A number of people
(some of them practitioners)
have begun to ask me angry questions
about The Ultimate Reality.
I suppose it’s because
they don’t like to see
old Jikan smiling.
– 1999
(Note: the early version - the Book of Longing prints "smoking" instead of "smiling" as the last word.)
