leonardcohenforum.com

atrium of dieing scents
arrival still postponed
attacking luring second glance
beware the moon is full

babylon brothel veranda
byzantine bitch
bloodsoaked cobble-stone
corpses hewn of tears

classical naked nemesis
contorted slippery vestibles
criptic urgent shadow-play
dyed to match a legend

dawn, gather a raindrop
dense mystical facade
drapery, enshroud not hence
end, the dance of dieing

salut
el

It's so good to see you, Elazar. It's been a long time, and I see you're still in Oz. Welcome back here , at least temporarily . I'm wondering if your poem relates to our current, world events, or to situations you've been encountering in the areas where you've been living or visiting.

~ Lizzy

Salut Elazar

it's good to see you back. Listening to some Kevin Coyne recordings I'm not really in the mood to say something about your poem. I'm sure you'll understand. (Kevin will be buried on Monday, you know...)

However, it's great to see you posting again.

Tom

dear liz and tom,

thanks for the hellos.indeed tom, and what a loss. i went to his website you provided and discovered that kevin painted. quite extraordinary. liz, i just have not notified jarrko about my change of state. i have been in n.y.c. for some time. i am finishing my first semester in pratt institute this week. my final projects due this week include: one painting, one drawing, one playground in mini-scale, one thesis on homelessness, and one art history exam. not much sleep happening. i havent been writing much(if you dont count my english papers or journal ), finding expression in my art mosty. this poem was just a feeling about a way that we die and live.
good to be back

salut
elazar

Hi Elazar ~

Your schooling sounds exciting and inspiring. It makes me want to return. You don't need to notify Jarkko re: NYC vs. Oz. You can do it yourself by changing your profile. Did your writing on homelessness somehow inspire your poem? I know you see a lot of it there. It would be like me to choose it as a topic for writing, too. It's great to have you back.

~ Lizzy

Liz,
it is great being in school, and the course is amazing. lots of homework, but when its drawings etc its enjoyable. i am moving onto campus next semester so that will be exciting. its amazing being in a community of aritsts. the poem is influenced my current state of mind, so i guess some of that does have to do with the homeless. doing field research was intense. a very sad topic. though there is some room for optimism.

salut
elazar

Hi Elazar - nice to see you here and glad you are enjoying where you are. When do you go home?

Hi Elazar ~

I can imagine how researching on the situation of homelessness, with NYC as your backdrop, could be intense beyond belief. In Toronto, back in the 1980s, I spent all of Thanksgiving Day in the rain, trying to find [in the homeless shelters] a woman whom I'd met at the bus depot. I'd dropped off a friend there, after giving him a ride from Quebec City. We were about to go opposite directions. The woman was sitting at a counter and we spoke only slightly there, but more in the restroom a little later. She was very well spoken [though her time on the street had left its mark on her psychological state; or the latter had resulted in her time on the street]. I recall her saying that she had played the piano, and the details she gave made it clear she had been an accomplished pianist.

I tried to give her a sweater and she refused. I later left it on the counter seat, when I left [per the advice of the female poet whom I was visiting at the time, and who knew some predictable reactions of many of the homeless]. I watched and then went away for a bit. When I returned, both she and the sweater were gone. The following day, I searched for her, intent to bring her back to the U.S. with me. I'll never know for sure, but it's probably better that I never found her.

I just started taking a once/week [one-hour sessions] art class. We've started with doing 'portraits' using charcoal pencils. Our first is to reproduce a black-and-white copy of a colour photo from a magazine. All kinds of tones and values in it. There are only two students, myself and a local attorney. He chats and chatters incessantly, about himself and his long-time views on drawing; and then emphasizes that drawing is one thing he can do and still talk at the same time. [Good for him .] I haven't said anything directly [yet], but my 'reserved' responses are hopefully making some kind of a point. When the instructor has things to say, there is simply not enough time available to indulge his chattiness. Since I prefer being silent as I [try to!] draw, we're a match made in hell for this class. Next week, I'll produce "Dear Heather" ~ if I must listen to something, I'd much prefer Leonard to him. OK ~ enough of that. Not meaning to complain, but this is the first I've mentioned to anyone about it. The first class was last night.

~ Lizzy

Welcome back from me too El. Good luck with school and if Gordon and I get to NYC anytime, maybe we can meet for lunch or you can talk art with Gordon. He'll have his degree in Fine Art soon and turns out he's enjoying his pottery/sculpting classes more than the painting. Who knew that pottery could pay. I thought it was mostly bringing home an ashtray. haha. Go over to Gina's site and say Hi, she could be Almost Famous soon...www.supergiantproductions.com.

i appreciate the warm welcome home, and just want to note that i will be only posting/responding on a very random basis. school and all.

salut

elazar

Impressive!

Good use of alliteration.