Death of a Poet - Leonard Coen

When you died
My heartache reached my bones.
You seemed an old soul, but ageless.
Your death caught me by surprise.

Your deep, long, full voice
never to sweep through a room.
Never to fillet my soul
or plunge cold reality into my heart.

The lingering lines of your poetry
lay siege to my essence 
and unlock the hidden door
 from which all poets pen.

Your life of anguish and peace,
dance partners in the pattern of life,
open me to the possibility of both.

Sorting the discord to a song,
you lived the dichotomy of life
and spun the contrast to a single sphere of light.

As I ripen, opening to your music,
I long to align my life with yours.
To sit in meditation with your teacher,
to pen the lessons of life in compassion of others.

The world will be less the world I love
With you absent from the stage.
Exit Right, Empty Stage
End of Final Act.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2020

Poem

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One Avatar
March 28, 2020 at 9:42 AM
Great poet and musician.... Great tribute to a legend
Hodges Avatar
March 28, 2020 at 9:46 AM
Thank you Silent One. His loss was felt by many.
Bauer Avatar
March 27, 2020 at 4:36 PM
this is a beautiful tribute, alison! i didn't really know that much about him (although i knew his more famous songs) until i saw a fabulous exhibit about him in a museum in new york and it gave me a whole new appreciation for his work...
Hodges Avatar
March 27, 2020 at 5:19 PM
I wish I had seen that exhibit. Thank you for your complement on my poem. It was heart felt.
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