“Hey that’s no way to say goodbye”

I saw it stream
Slowly across the bottom
Of the 24/7 cable news network screen:
“Poet/composer/singer Leonard Cohen dead at 82”
“Hey that’s no way to say goodbye” you special you

He gave me many new songs, and themes
A virtual lifetime of dreams,

“Like a bird on a wire” in those discovery times.
With David Farkas driving along the New Jersey climbs
By the Hudson as the nighttime falls
Searching for “Suzanne” ‘neath the summer walls
She promised to "take us down to her place by the river”
"Feeding us tea and oranges that come all the way from China
You can hear the boats go by,"
But we never found her
"We can spend the night forever"

Leonard C. “danced me to the end of love” and back again
I read his poetry that rhymed, his novels, his biography one more time

I saw his performance on a misty night in May,
A moody time at Merriweather Post
The clouds perfectly framed his now husky hued voice, his hat, his stage presence
Teaching me A range of emotions I had just learned

I heard his latest song just a week ago
“You Want it Darker”
“Hineni”
He chanted that he was ready
And this time (as always) I believed him

So here’s one more verse of “Halleluyah” for our talented subversive Leonard