leonardcohenforum.com

matter

dark matter doesn't matter
queens of hearts don't matter
matters of fact don't matter
these hands i held
matter

england's rose doesn't matter
the singer and the president don't matter
lilacs that last in the dooryard bloomed don't matter
these hands
they matter

these three inch hands
unarmed
a crust of blood and sand
where once there was a wrist
these hands i held
matter

and i'll never walk down the royal mile again
to roll my eggs on arthur's seat

my heart doesn't matter
my tears don't matter
the words of this poem don't matter
but these hands
matter

these two left hands i held
(one still holds the dyed
blue linen fabric of a dress)
now but decaying
matter
matter

Amen.

That's a beautiful, dovetail poem to Byron's, Tom. In my opinion, this can be undeniably labeled as Truth.

Tom, I wonder if you are aware of a short verse by Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart.

"The stars are matter,
We are matter,
But it doesn't matter."

Regards,

witty_owl,

thank you for the hint. It might be that I heard those lines a very long time ago, but I wasn't aware of it anymore.

I'll take a look at whether I'll have to make changes to my lines.

Cheers
Tom

BTW: I'll take this opportunity to welcome you to the Forum.

We are all stardust.

Tom, I trust you will not make changes to your fine poem. I hope you do not think I was inferring plagirism. The two poems are very different only making the same wordplay on the meanings of 'matter'.
I did suspect that there may have been inspiration from that source and if so that is okay in my view. As a songwriter and lyricist I sometimes use the inspiration of other musicians and poets as a starting point. Nothing in this world is totally and exclusively original, nor should it be as we are all in a flux of communication.
Regards,

Not all of us, Byron ~ some of us are twilight . Maybe a twilight of one [to paraphrase a military slogan].

Good heavens, Witty Owl, I certainly welcomed you privately. Completely oversighted welcoming you publicly. Welcome to the Forum.

~ Lizzytysh

Ciao tom.d.stiller,


I'd like to see those three inch hands!


Vesuvius

Vesuvius, we must have different interpretations of this poem for I am confused as to why you made that remark.
Regards,

Ciao Witty Owl,

I am Vesuvius. I love poetry and the poets. I am from long line of interpreters of poetry. I try to encourage poets in their endeavours. I will be encourageing you too!

Vesuvius

Vesuvius, your reply is evasive and does not answer the query. Would you like to try again to clarify the intent of your remark on the 3 inch hands.

Regards,

Vesuvius ~

So would the parent of the child who once had those three-inch hands love to see them. The child would as well, had it any lasting memories of what it was like to have had hands. However, trauma tends to block some of the most relevant of memories. In far more of a beloved, heartfelt way than your "encouraging" remark would ever suggest. Your long line of interpretation would suggest a line that has long-since gone astray. Not that it needed it, but this post certainly puts your comment regarding "The Old Men From the Long March" into better perspective. Whatever could have been behind your remark here if you had any understanding of this highly-sensitive poem, whatsoever?

~ Lizzytysh

Vesuvius,

If you want to see those hands, jump on some plane and go to where one of the "clean modern wars" took place, or if you prefer that term: "a surgical operation" (obviously an amputation). You'll find those "two left hands" have been left there... (You might wonder then where the right hands have gone, though. Probably with the wind raised by some desert storm.)

However, I appreciate your joking capacities. May they turn on the right things one time to come. There's still hope.

BTW: I certainly felt "encouraged" by your comments. I'd suggest you label your posts "This is an encouragement" in the future. It could make them recognizable as such.

Tom