Finding the Light (for Leonard Cohen)
Built the stair to ascend, but the foot won’t take
Just a little more rope and it’s done
Your verse on her breath is the file in the cake
Plugs the chamber that weighs down the gun
A vacant mirrored room of worship and mood
Masks and floor worn from the knees
The secret chord is A minor whom the diamonds elude
Only facets the burning eye sees
Always said there were shades in the blacks
How’s the view from the tower these days?
Have the stars stopped streaming through cracks?
You were finding the light by igniting each turn of the phrase
“I’ve no plans for love,” spoke the courting architect
Of the traitor Suzanne did recite
Everybody knows the words, still the pages connect
A companion for all seasons tonight
Always said there were shades in the blacks
How’s the view from the tower these days?
Have the stars stopped streaming through cracks?
Are we finding the light or just a brighter corner of the maze?
The artist as martyr’s a clichéd crusade
Beloved as lover, the humbler masquerade
Your shadow’s grown long, but there’s warmth in its shade
Gather for our midnight choir’s serenade
Bared the drowning man’s faith and the devout’s confession
Judges on broken thrones tried
No verdict was reached, still hung on the question
Is the masterpiece always inside?
Always said there were shades in the blacks
How’s the view from the tower these days?
Have the stars stopped streaming through cracks?
We are finding the light even as we lose sight of the rays