Leonard Cohen Poems

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• Best Leonard Cohen Poems
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 The birds they sang 
at the break of day 
Start again 
I heard them say 
Don't dwell on what 
has passed away 
or what is yet to be. 
Ah the wars they will 
be fought again 
The holy dove 
She will be caught again 
bought and sold 
and bought again 
the dove is never free. 
Ring the bells that...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 Like a bird on the wire, 
like a drunk in a midnight choir 
I have tried in my way to be free. 
Like a worm on a hook, 
like a knight from some old fashioned book 
I have saved all my ribbons for thee. 
If I, if I have been unkind, 
I hope that you can just let it...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin 
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in 
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove 
Dance me to the end of love 
Dance me to the end of love 
Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone 
Let me feel you...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 It's coming through a hole in the air,
 from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
 It's coming from the feel
 that it ain't exactly real,
 or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
 From the wars against disorder,
 from the sirens night and day,
 from the fires of the homeless,
 from the ashes of the gay:
 Democracy is coming to...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 (co-written by Sharon Robinson)
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded 
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed 
Everybody knows that the war is over 
Everybody knows the good guys lost 
Everybody knows the fight was fixed 
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich 
That's how it goes 
Everybody knows 
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking 
Everybody knows the...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom 
For trying to change the system from within 
I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them 
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin.
I'm guided by a signal in the heavens 
I'm guided by this birthmark on my skin 
I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons 
First we take Manhattan,...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm, 
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm, 
yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new, 
in city and in forest they smiled like me and you, 
but now it's come to distances and both of us must try, 
your eyes are...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 If you want a lover 
I'll do anything you ask me to 
And if you want another kind of love 
I'll wear a mask for you 
If you want a partner 
Take my hand 
Or if you want to strike me down in anger 
Here I stand 
I'm your man 
If you want a boxer 
I will step into...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 Oh the sisters of mercy, they are not departed or gone. 
They were waiting for me when I thought that I just can't go
on. 
And they brought me their comfort and later they brought me
this song. 
Oh I hope you run into them, you who've been travelling so
long. 
Yes you who must leave everything that you cannot control.

It begins...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 The door it opened slowly, 
my father he came in, 
I was nine years old. 
And he stood so tall above me, 
his blue eyes they were shining 
and his voice was very cold. 
He said, "I've had a vision 
and you know I'm strong and holy, 
I must do what I've been told." 
So he started up the...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 Brother Paul! look!
—but he rushes to a different
window.
The moon!

I heard shrieks and thought:
What's that?

That's just Suzanne
talking to the moon!
Pounding on the window
with both fists:

 Paul! Paul!

—and talking to the moon.
Shrieking
and pounding the glass
with both fists!

Brother Paul! the moon!...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river 
You can hear the boats go by 
You can spend the night beside her 
And you know that she's half crazy 
But that's why you want to be there 
And she feeds you tea and oranges 
That come all the way from China 
And just when you mean to...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 (After Lorca) 

Now in Vienna there are ten pretty women.
There's a shoulder where death comes to cry.
There's a lobby with nine hundred windows.
There's a tree where the doves go to die.
There's a piece that was torn from the morning,
and it hangs in the Gallery of Frost—
Ay, ay ay ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz,
take this waltz with the clamp...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey 
I ache in the places where I used to play 
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on 
I'm just paying my rent every day 
Oh in the Tower of Song 
I said to Hank Williams: how lonely does it get? 
Hank Williams hasn't answered yet 
But...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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 (co-written by Sharon Robinson)
Baby, I've been waiting, 
I've been waiting night and day. 
I didn't see the time, 
I waited half my life away. 
There were lots of invitations 
and I know you sent me some, 
but I was waiting 
for the miracle, for the miracle to come. 
I know you really loved me. 
but, you see, my hands...Read more of this...

by Cohen, Leonard

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