An old but beautiful tribute poem

[Andrew (Darby)]

Stemming out of my report on our last Toowoomba event, Elizabeth (Lizzytysh) encouraged me to have my friend air her (now dated) birthday tribute poem to Leonard: the one she read at our Sunday lunch session last year. Well, being somewhat elusive, it took a while to track her down, but much to my pleasure I have now achieved this and she has agreed to my posting the poem on her beahalf!

TO LEONARD COHEN ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 64TH BIRTHDAY

I write the title on the page
And pause
Are you really such an age?
You, my hero, my tortured teacher
What cause
Made you so eloquent a preacher?

I was so impressionable then
A fool
In the ways of men
I wanted them all to be like you
So cool
So deep, so navy blue.

I drank your songs, like heady wine
And cried
The words were yours, the feelings mine.
Th Age of Aquarius, and all its misspent youth,
Has died
But I have found my voice in your truth.

Helen Holmes

I must add that Helen is going to try to update this poem with the advent of Leonard's 70th birthday! I will encourage her to actually join the forum herself and then post the updated version for our further delight!

Cheers
Andrew (Darby)

[lizzytysh]

Thanks for not giving up on tracking her down with your quest, Andrew. I like Helen's poem very much.....so true ~ "the words were yours, the feelings mine" and "found my voice in your truth." In fact, given the response Jarkko has noted regarding a thread of birthday greetings to be delivered to Leonard himself, Helen could 'give' it to Leonard directly [after all these years], in her 'then and now'-style greeting containing two poems, which Leonard could only but appreciate and enjoy on his 70th birthday . Here's hoping on Helen .

~ Elizabeth