Taxi from El Alto spirals towards the clogged streets
A thousand metres down from hell to high-rise
Thanksgiving in America a daily struggle in Bolivia
Street lamp effigies signal certain death to thieves
Two bodies on road surrounded by yellow tape
Hombres sleep-like stillness an uncovered curiosity
This morning neither knew it would be their last
Fifty police listen to chief behind mahogany lectern
Death brings them 15 minutes of news-time fame
Cars and peasants pass by with unheeding speed
Is death the end or just another part of life in La Paz?

Weary worldwide,
Week three,
Travelling,tiring.

Worried waiting,
Wasted time,
Ticking, trapped.

Wishes wait,
Want, tender,
Touching, tomorrow.

Weekend welcome,
Will tease,
Thrilling, tonight.

Wake wise,
Wonderful, tea,
Toasting, together.

Looking to snooze on AA922 to Miami today
Little monsters scream all the way for fun
Seat kicking for exercise and expression
****** in mind as red wine spills on shirt
Wishing it was little darlings’ blood instead
Open the door and take them wing walking
Angry parents complain for some reason
Perhaps because I did not bring them back
Now sleeping, no apologies, dreaming that
Business Class minimum age the best policy.

It's a wonder to me why
Those most passionate
About good and evil
Have no compunction
About the ****** of
Innocents in the pursuit
Of their goals.

&

Become more evil
Than the evil
They aim to fight.

So close, that we are drowning,
So close, that we are still in madness,
So close, that we are invisible in our love,
So close, that we are one 10000 miles apart,
So close, that we do not have to talk to know,
So close, that our hearts beat like one heart,
So close, that we dream the same dreams,
So close, that we breathe the same air,
So close, that we are one person.

Roses red
Champagne crisp
Dinner divine
Words whisper
Touch tender
Sheets satin
Bed blonde
Night noir
Passion purple.

Yo te amo abiertamente
pero tu no puedes ver esto
por que tu estas buscando
en la dirección equivocada
solo dá la vuelta ahora
y tu verás.


te amo en silencio
pero tu no puedes oir esto
por que tu estas escuchando
en la sordera del silencio
escucha nuestro amor ahora
y tu oirás.


yo te amo completamente
pero tu no puedes sentir esto
por que tú estas tocando
algunas veces la tristeza
sosténme mas cera ahora
y tu  sentirás.

Without you……

Loneliness is a selfish word
In empty corridors and cold beds
But I have never felt so close to you
I can feel your smile soft caress closeness
Distance is a nanosecond in light speed loving
Sleepy Sunday waking wanting wishing
Sad dreams now pastoral pleasures
Desire the reality of past love
Happiness beckons hope

…with you soon

Hot days, cold nights, warm bodies, soft loving
Your sunny smile is the magic in my rainy day
Your gentle touch is the passion in my night
Your total love is the comfort when apart.

Cold days, hot nights, soft bodies, warm loving
Your loving look is the happiness in my life
Your lasting love is the wisdom in my world
Your total trust is the fragile flower that blooms.

The smiling eyes like deep blue pools of love,
Delicious drowning feeling every call I make,
A flash of our seventh heaven lunch in Wien.

The lovely feeling of you nestling in my pocket,
Forever with me, good vibrations, but apart,
This lonely traveller is sleeping with you now.

Ten thousand miles, so far but yet so near,
Another week before my blue turns bright,
In your “Hi, good morning” arms again.

Ti amo apertamente
ma tu non puoi vederlo
perchè stai guardando
nella direzione sbagliata
Voltati ora
e vedrai..

Ti amo quietamente
ma tu non puoi sentirlo
perchè tu stai ascoltando
nel silenzio assordante
Ascolta il nostro amore ora
e sentirai.

Ti amo totalmente
ma tu non puoi sentirlo
perchè ci incontriamo
talvolta in momenti tristi
Tienimi vicino ora
e saprai.

Adrenaline invincible speed empty road 3am,
Invisible tree stops speed & time forever.
Loved one’s anguish howl from 5am knock,
“Your baby died in a wreck on the highway”,
His 30 seconds of fame on the 8am news.
Life must go on for those not forever young,
Empty chair, empty life and broken hearts,
Missing him every second now forever old,
Anger at the waste of young life cut short.

Of
Green
Was how I
Felt as I watched
50 Shades with Chinese
Subtitles and thinking that
This is the “Least ****** Movie”

I have seen

Sultry looks but no hearts beating
Faster, or “Here to Eternity”
Moment, just moving
Wallpaper, a waste
Methinks of my
St. Patrick's
Day .

Fingers tracing crazy patterns on your skin
Indelible memories of love lasting long after
Those skin-close moments have become
A smile I savor in my private moments
In the emptiness of our endless days apart.

Fingers touching me while touching you
Impossible closeness unforgettable after
Those magic-time memories have become
A smile you savor in your private moments
In the loneliness of our endless days apart.

Fingers tingling in delicious afterglow of the
Incredible heights of perfect passion after
Those laser-sharp memories have become
A smile we savor in our private moments
In the closeness of our endless days apart.

Paper sharp cut,
Slices deep,
Painless initially,
Blood bright red,
Flows freely,
Stings like nettle,
Finger ******* sore,
Bitter metallic,
Tingles strangely,
Japan flag tissue,
Stiffens sore,
Memory tricks,
Taste pennies,
Flashes of childhood.

I am trapped inside a message
Inside a message inside my head
I don't know how this happened
But it did because it has
People who don't understand
Just look the other way
My friends who are like me
Just accept me for who I am.

My family who I love, just
Love me as I am, but I know
I make them sad sometimes
When I keep repeating words
And questions as if I do not
Understand, but I know what
I am doing, because it makes
Me feel so comfortable.

I will keep trying to be
More like them so those
Loops that go round
Inside my head, will
Change eventually, and
I will be more like you
Although I don’t know
If that is good or bad.

It really makes me stressed
When I simply cannot be
Who I want to be, but I found
The way I can best relax
Is when I listen to my music
In tiny little pieces by playing
Half my favourite bar over
Many many times.

This sometimes breaks
My iPod, but it doesn't
Really matter because
Since I  stopped washing
Them - I have quite a few
Which I swop and swop
Sometimes they are silver
Sometimes they are black.

The love
The lack
The leash
The lesson


A way
A wish
A waste
A welcome


I drink
I dream
I decide
I die

Excuses excuses excuses is all I have
For putting you in the wrong BOX of
WORK and LIFE, work is so big that
Life is clipped 5 minute conversations
Between the garbage and rocks, that
Fill up my WORK box making you
An invisible corporate accessory

B
U
T

LIFE is not a rehearsal, and you have
Limits, so today when I came home
The BOX with you in it was empty

A
N
D

I am staring at wall in an empty
Room in and empty house, of the
BOX I had put you in thinking that if

O
N
L
Y

I had listened to my heart which made
Me feel so bad abandoning you to a
Priority that will be a forgotten tomorrow

Be-tubed in my silver coffin for take-off,
Bemused by passenger coping strategy,
Beloved by adjacent nervous new-friend,
Being away from you is harder every time.

Bewildered by the preying nervousness,
Be-crossed by maddening screaming kids,
Bespectacled study of the unending 1Q84,
Being away from you is harder every time.

Be-thinking of what you are doing as I soar,
Because appoggiatura in “Someone Like You”,
Begets a “Missing You” sadness deep inside,
Being away from you is harder every time.

Smiling lovers’ eyes dilate in magnetic attraction
Warm bodies embrace the electric charge of desire
Tingling lips licked kiss a “missed you” message
Soft hands explore through summer thin clothes
Fluttering feeling in passion the butterflies fly free
As skin-close lovers assuage each other’s absence

1,000 miles from the Merry Christmas muzak in Port Moresby
Fat Brisbane taxi philosopher’s poor mouth moaning season
Navan road Sydney AMEX girl pining for the cold in Dublin
Along with traditional stuffing of turkey ham and trimmings.  

10,000 miles to London via sticky Bangkok “Merry Clistmas”
And cattle class envy of First class lounge showers mid-flight
But Jetlag is the same nightmare at both ends of the plane
As we fly across the universe to be home for Christmas.

1,000,000 people flying to their friends and families
Do all those sad, glad, bad, mad once-a-year reunions
Make it to Happy New Year without killing each other
Resolving to be prosperous, viceless and happy again?

Birth gives life with an awful
Closeness, since today I
Sent a 1st birthday card
To a part of me, that
I gave to my son.
It crossed in the
Post with his
Card which
Read…

"Ian donates high quality kidney to his son"

In
Giving
We receive
More than we
Can ever expect
When we do what
Comes naturally to a
Parent in this cycle of
Life and living and love.

Yo estaba muy
cerca de la muerte hoy,
en el camino a Cochabamba.
Las "muchas" líneas de cruces tristes,
ninguna de ellas previsto para morir.
¿Cómo puede usted saber?
¿Cómo saber?
¿Cuándo?
Yo vivo cada día
como si fuera mi último.
Así que
cuándo
llegue
al final
del camino,
deseos incumplidos,
no me atormentarán
en la vida próxima, si hay una.

Running rings around thirteen hours of opera
I sit spell-bound absorbing the angry music
Suppressing an urge to re-conquer Poland
Music a direct expression of world’s essence
**** passion means Israel is Wagner-free
Tristan and Isolde unplayed before Ludwig
Love and death and passion for Mathlde
Eros and Thanathos that predate Freud
Arthurian love story interrupted by Minna
Overwhelming influence frustrates his peers
Worried that his brilliance is simply anger
That guarantees you feel undead tonight.

The week was spinning at 1000mph
I was sitting at a bar with friends
Very slowly I reached for my drink
And drank savouring the moment
Feeling every second in 3D sharp
Living in the moment, in control
My friends noticed my escape,
Expressed concern that I was
Having a stroke, so be warned,
Living life in slow motion might
Lead men in white coats to your
Door, your new heaven, may
Become an unintended hell.

Fifty years a-growing with my pigtailed friend
I was frogs and snails and she was sugar and spice
Attraction of tortoise petting a perfect way to diet
Red-faced, tongue-tied, secret Confirmation admirer

Nucleus beauty besotted beard route to romance
Coffee and gooseberries companionship cooking
Chicken and almonds the way to this man's heart
Townley Hall first loving to closeness ever after

Tented separation in Mweenish was chilly silliness
Yellow bikini starvation Brighton beach memories
Sneaking bedroom cuddles in Westone wedding
Graduated to Beaufield dinners and Blue Nun

Parents fret about their two kids with two kids
Life challenges met in the riches of poverty
Grateful when God's surprising Gift was given
Altogether life more balanced and beautiful

Entrepreneurial pride of parents flying high
The stars of sons the brightest in the sky
The workaday challenges a learning lesson
Lunch in Powerscourt the pleasure of poverty


We fly and we fall but catch each other every day
In heaven at last in the castle of our dreams
"Ticks all the boxes" of my blonde beauty
Perfect harmony a Gateway to perfect storm

Togetherness triumphs over taxman trials
Best times ever as we conquer the world
Olympic pride and gradual OU degrees
Make sunburst of pride as we grow

Icarus-like flight forgiven not forgotten
Revalue every "for granted" magic moment
"I want to grow old with you" wish and fear
Strength stronger than stupidity and stuff

In fear and loneliness I see fire and I see rain
I see sunny days now that we are one again.

Trees whisper with a lazy-leafed murmur,
Starlight strange in this shadow-land stark,
At night window-watching, wanting, wishing,
Empty black winding road, without you.

Wind moans soft and branches knock,
Ceiling alive with my shadow nightmare,
An acre of bed, listless, lonely, longing,
Soft white sheets unruffled, without you.

Rain rattles like a rasping smoker’s cough,
Spot-lit droplets make snail shadowed walls
Staring solo awake, alone, alert, alas,
Boredom-struck insomniac, without you.

Traces of memories we leave in verse,
Which capture moments in time, that
Become invisible, once they are gone.

Traces of what we are and do and can do,
In our life from the day we are born, until
We die, the sum of our hopes and fears.

Traces are the sticky air between, hope
Fulfilled and the fears conquered, while
Life flows slowly towards an endless sea.

Living
Is giving
All of you,
In lots of
Little pieces.

Until you feel
Empty – then,
Something
Happens.

You start
To feel,
Alive.

Doing pointless things
In a far from perfect world
Is the reason we know
We are human

Doing pointless things
In a far from perfect life
Is a way of knowing
We are not machines

Doing pointless things
In a far from loving world
Is the reason we connect
With others in need

Doing pointless things
In a far from loving life
Is the way others know
We are human

Darkness envelopes me like a thin grey blanket
Listen to sleeping body snores warm beside me
Imaginary ghosts emerge out of the shadows
Tomorrow’s plans become tonight’s mental list.

Twist and turn, heart beats fast, should sleep
Can’t sleep, get up, drink tea, read email, yawn
Email replies at three clears the decks, wide awake
Online yesterday’s Irish Times becomes today’s.

Skype “Hi” to friends on PST and office in Asia
In bed, read Robinson Crusoe, always meant to
Watch watch, almost five, two hours to breakfast
Sleep heavy eyes, day bright, 7am news, yawn.

Cohen liquid music trickles into the holes in our lives
It’s four in the morning at the end of December
I came by myself to this very crowded place
Now in Vienna there are ten pretty women
The walls of this hotel are paper thin
Everyone knows the dice is loaded
I loved you for a long long time
I stepped into an avalanche
The door it opens slowly
Baby I’ve been waiting
Like a bird on a wire
If you want a lover
But I am not lost
Snow is falling
Love is a fire
Silence
…..
…
.






Excerpts from Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs by Leonard Cohen © 1993.
Published in Canada by McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
Used with permission of the publisher.

Rain-blinded laser-focus on lights in front,
Always one second from impact, or worse,
A zombie living death of three more hours,
Slow down, let the mad and the bad pass,
Blindingly oblivious to their impending end.

This driving rain seems now inside my mind
A black cold cloud wraps my beating heart
With its unforgiving tendrils, it is a mistake
To think  that it is always better to travel,
Than to arrive, in this driving, dying rain.

Remember tonight for it is the beginning of forever
Sadness is a cancer that eats you up from the inside
Blame is a losers game that you will never ever win
Forget tomorrow as your excuse for procrastination

Live life in this moment which you can never repeat
Give love and hope to everyone with your hello smile
A new dawn breaks as you take control of your world
Remember tonight was the beginning of your forever

On a given day
Something can come along
That steals our hearts away,
Beyond our control. It can be any
Old thing, a song that was playing
When we first made out with the
Woman who sleeps beside us
After all these years. It could
Be a child eating ice cream
Who reminds us of when
We were their age, the
Faded black and white
Photograph of when
Our parents were
Still in love with
Each other, but
This miscellany
With no home
Fades and soon
Disappears, and
Returns to those
Dark places, that
We had hidden
Them before
And

We know
That there are
Deep wells, dug in
Our hearts, where
Birds fly, calling
Us again

In love, a delicious drowning feeling,
Where stillness surrounds us, contrasting
A movie-like, high speed madness around us,
Bypassing us, because our love is frozen in time,
Growing now like the first buds in a spring passion,
Our touch electric-like, brings us closer than skin,
So close, that our hearts beat like one heart,
So close, that we dream the same dreams,
So close, that we breathe the same air,
So close, that we are one person.

It’s over 50 years since the day the music died
The Winter Dance Party tour ended for some
On that cold winter’s night at Clear Lake Iowa.
It was Buddy, Richie, Jiles and Roger who died
But the party went on for Waylon and Tommy.
Bus or plane was a flip of a coin or a fever too hot -
How did they feel, did it change their lives for ever?

Grey skies, contrasting bone-white tree skeletons,
Trudging home for Christmas is an endless nightmare,
Second night hotel-less on a Heathrow bed-less floor,
The crisp white snowiness of home but a distant hope,
Media revels in this travellers’ misery, so switch off,
I think I will head home somewhat earlier next year,
This snow bound, homeward bound, hopeless man.

Mid-winter solstice, cold dawn,
The shortest day is the longest night.
Day grey skies, walking on rain empty beach.
Night bright carolling and mulled wine warming,
Friends’ festive mood balks bank depression,
The world turns and the days get longer,
On this 3rd rock from the sun
In snow-cold Dublin.

Listening to David Bowie’s
“The Man who sold the World”
While reading Philip K. ****'s
"The Man in the High Castle"
As I was flying between
Vienna and Lisbon
I was struck by how hard
It is to execute strategy
Because we stick in the
Now - that we know.

Looking back at all the
Companies, now all closed
That I have worked in
Who did not transform
To meet the transition
From "was" to "when",
I see clearly how
To help you see, “how”
To escape, from the
Now - that you know.

Why are you looking at me?
When all I said was “hello”
Don’t you know who I am?

Looking at you looking at me
Makes me worried about you
Why are you looking at me?

So I say “HELLO” to your silence
Like you want to be invisible
Don’t you know who I am?

Like a car crash waiting to happen
You stare transfixed as I stand up
Why are you looking at me?

Thinking you must be deaf
Standing close I shout “HELLO”
Don’t you know who I am?


With every “hello” I will make
The world a better place for all
Why are you looking at me?
Don’t you know who I am?

Every time we close our eyes to opportunity,
Every time we step over a helpless beggar,
Every time we ignore a friend who needs us,
Every time we forget to say goodbye.

Every time we prefer black and white to colour,
Every time we wash our mind with TV soap,
Every time we sit when tempting travel beckons,
Every time we turn the music on to dull.

Every time we bottle rage as if it precious was,
Every time we crush a new idea with sarcasm,
Every time we simply could not care to listen,
Every time we refuse a friends helping hand.

Every time we sleep instead of making love,
Every time we withhold our love as a miser would,
Every time we walk alone instead of holding hands,
Every time we cause pain that a smile could cure-



We die a little every time.

Je t'aime ouvertement
Mais ça tu ne peux pas le voir
Parce que tu regardes
Dans la mauvaise direction
Tourne-toi à présent
Et tu verras.

Je t'aime discrètement
Mais ça tu ne peux pas l'entendre
Parce que tu écoutes
Dans la surdité du silence
Cherche notre amour à présent
Et tu l'entendras.

Je t'aime entièrement
Mais ça tu ne peux pas l'éprouver
Parce que nous nous touchons
Parfois dans la tristesse
Serre-moi plus fort à présent
Et tu le sentiras.

Love is so easy, remembering is so good.
I forget the world every time I am alone
With you in the companionship of silence.
What do you think, where will I go now?
Staring into the blue ocean of your eyes.

Love is so short, remembering is so sharp.
I forget everything but you in my dreams
Without you in my empty room tonight.
What do you dream, where do you go now?
Staring at two ceilings across two oceans.

Love is so full, remembering is so complete.
I forget all but your gentle magic touch,
Without you my world could not turn.
What do you feel, where do we go now?
Staring at the deep ocean of our love.

Why
Worry
Muffled up
Falling silent
White on grey road
Treading on tyre treads
Winter naked tree skeletons
Icicles seem to hang from my nose
Footprints crunch across the ****** crispness
Smoke rises from drink happy crowd
Slip sliding home from the bar
Sneeze freezing friends
Alone at last slán
Breathing fog
Sit down
Sleep
Fin.

We touch, we think, we listen, we love

Sometimes close, can be so far away
Sometimes apart, can be closer than skin
Sometimes love, can be the reason to live
Sometimes life, can be an empty shell

We touch, we think, we listen, we love

Sometimes dreams, can be almost enough
Sometimes touch, can be just that we need
Sometimes listening, can be all that it takes
Sometimes together, can be the best of all

How fragile is our small world today,
Living in this glass bottle of our life.

Where guilt is the fear of discovery,
Where silence is the hope of salvation,
Where greed is the reason for everything,
Where lies are the stones that shatter,
Where love is the desire for peace,
Where hate is the anger of envy,

How complex is our small world today,
Living in this glass bottle of our life.

Minus ten in blinding blizzard at midnight
Snow insulation isolates me from feeling
Cold sensation freezes me from your touch
And a contrasting black emptiness inside
Is a deeper sort of empty for me now.

The hello again smile whenever I arrive home,
A welcome hug when I feel you in my arms,
The want you now look in a crowded room,
A want you back when I am going on a trip,
The sleepy smile as I leave you alone in bed,
A hope you have fun with our boys goodbye.

The holding hands as we walk on the beach,
A million Little Things in our lifetime together,
The no regrets ever as my heart beats fast,
A comfortable cuddle as we drift off to sleep,
The spring in your step after a sleep-in morning,
A closeness with the other half of me - with me.

When we are apart a part of me is missing
When we are one we fly “Over the Town”
When we are down we build each other up
When you say “Hi” a thrill runs down my back
When you are sad I want to hold you close
When you are happy my sun shines brighter
When you are in my arms you are always safe
When you wake with me the world is perfect
When you are blue I can wipe away your tears
When you are with me I am a better man
When I have news you are the first one I tell
When I am frightened you are my anchor
When I grow old I always want to be with you.