Comrade, while you lie earthbound
in Shaar Hashomayim
the world is still at war with mercy.
And, if despair has roots
beneath the dust at Heaven’s Gate,
you have stepped into that avalanche again.
The only victory available
is the victory of the heart over its
own inclinations for revenge and hatred.
Beneath the entwined hearts and trees,
the blossoms wilt, the flowers wail
for families entombed by shells.
Tonight I heard you whisper,
in the heart of darker darkness:
Blessed is the memory of everybody’s child.
(In memory of Leonard Cohen on his 90th birthday)
John MacKenna's most recent books are Absent Friend, a memoir of his friendship with Leonard Cohen; and Father, Son and Brother Ghost, both published by The Harvest Press
in Shaar Hashomayim
the world is still at war with mercy.
And, if despair has roots
beneath the dust at Heaven’s Gate,
you have stepped into that avalanche again.
The only victory available
is the victory of the heart over its
own inclinations for revenge and hatred.
Beneath the entwined hearts and trees,
the blossoms wilt, the flowers wail
for families entombed by shells.
Tonight I heard you whisper,
in the heart of darker darkness:
Blessed is the memory of everybody’s child.
(In memory of Leonard Cohen on his 90th birthday)
John MacKenna's most recent books are Absent Friend, a memoir of his friendship with Leonard Cohen; and Father, Son and Brother Ghost, both published by The Harvest Press
