Song for L. Cohen

I tried so hard to win, I threw away the prize
There were things I could not alter, so I had to let them slide

I’ve been aching for somebody
Who will never ache for me

I let the darkness in
Now the darkness will not leave

I wasn’t born to love but love still follows me around
I learned to hold my tongue while my friends went underground

There are changes in the weather
That simply baffle me

I let the sickness in
Now the sickness will not leave

The regime still runs like clockwork and the people are serene
But no one really knows what goes on behind the scenes

I wish that I could blame someone
But that someone might be me

I let the panic in
Now the panic will not leave

(2012)

About a Boy

You could eat pancakes all day
When I was a boy
No one was ever in a hurry
My grandfather used to show me
The foundations of the country

You could see faces everywhere
For free, unobscured
When I was a boy

They had just discovered the cure for boredom
And it rained blood constantly
When I was a boy

My mother pointed out how overnight
I became skinny and morose
And now even she is a ghost

You could spend the whole day dreaming
When I was a boy
No one forgot to love a stranger
My father used to take me
To see the limits of my imagination

It was a wonderful life
When I was a boy

Bullies

bullies rule
bullies win
bullies will tell the tale

of how you failed
failed them so badly
failed all of us

bullies laugh
bullies sing
bullies will write the laws

that keep you in chains
and so much pain
and so much shame

until you are drowning in bile

it’s all your fault
but your nest of salt
should comfort you for a while

The Animals

Look at the animals!
They are naked in the world
And resolutely themselves

They take no more than is given
And are proud to be of the earth
And for the earth

They are rich with strength
And delight in sheer being

They do not complain
Or strive for nirvana
They do not feel sorry for themselves
Or anything

Look at the animals!
As they go naked through the world
And learn

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