A LONG KOAN FOR LEONARD COHEN

Now I drink to your awful truth

That I will hear from you

Long after you’ve gone

Dead and gone

You said you were ready

Except nobody ever is

For the great beyond

Dust to dust

That was that

The living left behind listen to you

Digitally remastered

Longing for clues when you sang

Democracy is coming to the USA

But all that came was Trump

Taking Manhattan and maybe Berlin

So long ago, we listened to you and your Spanish guitar

First in Munich, then in Auckland

You took us down to the river

Letting love flow

The past before us, the flowers and the garbage

The murderous future behind us

Words like honey and salt into the wounds of

Christ and hell to come

You were the bridge across the river Styx

Now the bridge is gone

We never have to cross it again

Hineni, you said you were here

But look what you have done

You have gone

To the other side

Never to return as great

As a Zen Master of song

As Leonard Cohen