Leonard Cohen - Parasites of Heaven

Original edition copyright Leonard Cohen, 1966 First McClelland & Stewart edition 1966. This edition 2018. All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency is an infringement of the copyright law. McClelland & Stewart and colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House Canada. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Cohen, Leonard, 1934-2016, author Parasites of heaven / Leonard Cohen.

Originally published: 1966. Poems. Issued in print and electronic formats. ISBN 9780771024528 (softcover).ISBN 9780771024597 (EPUB) I. Title. PS8505.O22P3 2018C811.54C2018-901594-2 C2018-901595-0 Book design by Five Seventeen McClelland & Stewart, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company www.penguinrandomhouse.ca v5.3.2 a For Irving Layton

This title contains long lines of poetry.

The line of characters below indicates approximately the longest line in the text: soft as the footprints of a man moving in thought or devotion. To most accurately reproduce the layout of the text on the printed page, you may choose to decrease the size of the text on your viewer and/or change the orientation of your screen until the above line of characters fits on a single line. This may not be possible on all e-reading devices. Viewing this title at a higher than optimal text size or on a screen too small to accommodate the longest lines in the text will alter the reading experience and may cause single lines of some poems to display as multiple lines of text. If this occurs, the turn of the line will be marked with a shallow indent. So youre the kind of vegetarian that only eats roses Is that what you mean with your Beautiful Losers 1965 Its not so hard to say goodbye. True, the mind bleeds a little, but if you dont part your hair too deep nobody will mention it.

And true, the ego aches like a tooth with sugar in it when it accepts at long last an alien perfection, but still the goodbyes will be made, and not from such a long way off as you thought. Were only over here, climbing the shining reflection of the rickety ladder that gave way under you, our boots snapping through the rungs with the sound of a machine gun. Look! thats a smile on the skull. Last year we thought that only hypocrites did that to their mouths. The nightmares do not suddenly develop happy endings I merely step out of them as a five year old scientist leaves the room where he has dissected an alarm clock Love wears out like overused mirrors unsilvering and parts of your faces make room for the wall behind If terror needs my round green eyes for a masterpiece let it lure them with nude key-holes mounted on an egg And should Love decide I am not the one to stand scratching his head wondering what wall to lean on send King Farouk to argue or come to me dressed as a fast A cross didnt fall on me when I went for hot-dogs and the all-night Greek slave in the Silver Gameland didnt think I was his brother Love me because nothing happens I believe the rain will not make me feel like a feather when it comes tonight after the streetcars have stopped because my size is definite Love me because nothing happens Do you have any idea how many movies I had to watch before I knew surely that I would love you when the lights woke up Love me because nothing happens Here is a headline July 14 in the city of Montreal Intervention dcisive de Pearson la conference du Commonwealth That was yesterday Love me because nothing happens Stars and stars and stars keep it to themselves Have you ever noticed how private a wet tree is a curtain of razor blades Love me because nothing happens Why should I be alone if what I say is true I confess I mean to find a passage or forge a passport or talk a new language Love me because nothing happens I confess I meant to grow wings and lose my mind I confess that Ive forgotten what for Why wings and a lost mind Love me because nothing happens In the Bible generations pass in a paragraph, a betrayal is disposed of in a phrase, the creation of the world consumes a page. I could never pick the important dynasty out of a multitude, you must have your forehead shining to do that, or to choose out of the snarled network of daily evidence the denials and the loyalties.

Who can choose what olive tree the story will need to shade its lovers, what tree out of the huge orchard will give them the particular view of branches and sky which will unleash their kisses. Only two shining people know, they go directly to the roots they lie between. For my part I describe the whole orchard. Ah, what were the names I gave you before I learned all names go the do-do way? Darlin, Golden, Meadowheart Ive been walking in the far green Ive lost what all the leaves are called Elm, Chestnut, Silver O come here you, thou Bring all thy, bring all thine Far into the splinter lets sing for nothing 1958 One night I burned the house I loved, It lit a perfect ring In which I saw some weeds and stone Beyondnot anything. Certain creatures of the air Frightened by the night, They came to see the world again And perished in the light. 1960 Give me dog, dogs, wolves, to serve, praise, kneel in thanks. 1960 Give me dog, dogs, wolves, to serve, praise, kneel in thanks.

Bring me torn by sin, stuffed with loot, bring me in their wild midst, in the spiked ring of white teeth, sharp fangs, wet mouths, cast me hard and down. I am not food, the calf, the ewe, I am the man to be sent to love, but clawed first, cleansed first, taught to fight, to lose, save my skin, my stained skin, my own old soft shell 1961 You know there was honey in my system but I filled a honey jar and I hid it with the moon and sun up there Its time to be sweet again to the poor ladies and gentlemen Now my horoscope is starving Ive got to find that sticky jar You can wait for signals and comets Im going to follow the honey flies They arent so bad Some say that flies are mans best friend Even though they tore my sleep apart they were just doing their job Theyre never wrong about the honey Thats proved by the nervous sky and the legions dead or kicking all along the rim of the jar Why did I hide it so far away Was I worried about my weight I dont know I dont know I didnt think anybody wanted breakfast or I would have stayed at home Well never mind the mornings you tried to get the rich to love you Put it down to love The 11th story window is buzzing thick with flies And listen so youll remember just what it was you did Thats not the Milky Way up there Thats sticky paper from your store Its not too late for goodbyes Thats what I want to tell you all who are waiting with indifferent expressions between me and the honey flies Hey there they are sailing like a cyclone that dips into everything you hide Theyre black as hair they rent the air for a dollar thirty-five They suck you through the small end of their telescope Theres no hope they say Its our office step inside its a very short ride when youre a guest of the honey flies Nothing has been broken though one of the links of the chain is a blue butterfly Here he was attacked They smiled as they came and retired baffled with blue dust The banks so familiar with metal they made for the wings The thick vaults fluttered The pretty girls advanced their fingers cupped They bled from the mouth as though struck The jury asked for pity and touched and were electrocuted by the blue antennae A thrust at any link might have brought him down but each of you aimed at the blue butterfly