leonardcohenforum.com

It was getting nearer to the day
That Russell damn burst
He’d borrowed a wad of cash
On top of the wad borrowed first

By solving the family problem
He’d made his lot worse
A twenty-year sentence
Hovered like a curse

Seven days most weeks
He’d work one of three jobs
The battle face hid so well
That driving home he sobs

Night after night his tired wife
Quarrelled with the kids
Greeted by a wall of disrespect
His life and marriage on the skids

His dream became a yearning
For long, lost solitude
He planned a sole walk that summer
Having no-one else to include

At last Christmas break arrived
In the boot a loaded backpack
His head cleared on the coastal road
All hope lay in that walking track

So he brushed past Spinifex
Sinking feet trudged over dunes
Climbed up a rugged sandstone cliff
Spotted two Ibis sunning their plumes

His words from the cliff top
Were swept away by the breeze
The space to think made him nervous
He retreated toward the trees

A day without a soul in sight
Naked he entered the sea
Seeking peace under the swell
Surfacing for air; feeling free

Breathing deeply at the waters edge
Elated watching an eagle soar
Putting on his clothes he knew
The trip would fuel a year or more