leonardcohenforum.com

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)

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