Leonard Cohen on a Plane

"There's a crack in everything - that's how the Light gets in."

Leonard Cohen

A PROMISE

I will never
return
the Holy Grail
to its
"rightful owners."

BASKET

You should go

from place to place

recovering the poems

that have been written for you,

to which you can affix your signature.

Don't discuss these matters

with anyone.

Retrieve.  Retrieve.

When the basket is full

someone will appear

to whom you can present it.

She will spread her wide skirt

and sit down

on a black stone

and your basket will bounce

like a speck in sunlight

on the immense landscape

of her lap.

WISH ME LUCK

a fresh spiderweb
billowing
like a spinaker
across the open window
and here he is
the little master
sailing by
on a thread of milk
wish me luck
admiral
I haven't finished anything
in a long time

Leonard Cohen, from The Book of Longing

                                             Harper Collins, 2006