Concateknit

National Poetry Month

Beverly asked what our favorite poems are, and honestly, it's a tough question for me to answer. I'll post a few of my favorites during the month, but I thought I'd start with one of my favorite Leonard Cohen pieces Take This Longing. I think Cohen is one of only a few artists whose poetry reads as lyrics and whose lyrics read as poetry. Tell me if you agree:

Take This Longing

Many men have loved the bells
you fastened to the rein,
and everyone who wanted you
they found what they will always want again.
Your beauty lost to you yourself
just as it was lost to them.
Oh take this longing from my tongue,
whatever useless things these hands have done.
Let me see your beauty broken down
like you would do for one you love.

Your body like a searchlight
my poverty revealed,
I would like to try your charity
until you cry, "Now you must try my greed."
And everything depends upon
how near you sleep to me

Just take this longing from my tongue
all the lonely things my hands have done.
Let me see your beauty broken down
like you would do for one your love.

Hungry as an archway
through which the troops have passed,
I stand in ruins behind you,
with your winter clothes, your broken sandal straps.
I love to see you naked over there
especially from the back.

Oh take this longing from my tongue,
all the useless things my hands have done,
untie for me your hired blue gown,
like you would do for one that you love.

You're faithful to the better man,
I'm afraid that he left.
So let me judge your love affair
in this very room where I have sentenced
mine to death.
I'll even wear these old laurel leaves
that he's shaken from his head.

Just take this longing from my tongue,
all the useless things my hands have done,
let me see your beauty broken down,
like you would do for one you love.

Like you would do for one you love.

Poetry Weekend, The First

I've decided to do something that I've talked about for a long time: for the foreseeable future, I will post one of my poems as a weekend post. I've wanted to do this, wanted to share some of my poetry with you, but I've been hesitant. I want you to know from the outset that poetry is not my therapy. I write to try to evoke a feeling of a place and time, but my poetry, even if based in fact, is certainly fictionalized. So, although I would absolutely love to hear your reaction to one of my poems (positive or negative) and if you have constructive criticism to share, please do, but please understand that what I post here is not a) a cry for help or b) an exact recounting of some event in my life.

So, I hope that you enjoy this new feature and my poetry, but if you don't, that's okay, my feelings won't be hurt. I know that poetry isn't for everyone, and I know that my poetry isn't for everyone, either.

Face It

Face it:

We can't make this work.

I can't be objective;

You can't be kind.

Your cankerous anger changes me.

Once you said you'd make me leave,

and you were right.

I've left. I'm gone.

So fill the emptiness with tattered words,

hold them there,

decipher their essence,

call it literature,

call me a bitch,

But face it that you did this.