Field Commander Cohen

Field Commander Cohen
he was our
most important spy
wounded in the line of duty
parachuting acid into diplomatic cocktail parties
urging Fidel Castro to abandon fields and castles
leave it all and like a man
came back to nothing special
such as waiting rooms
and ticket lines
silver bullet suicides
messianic ocean tides
racial roller-coaster rides
and other forms of boredom
advertised as poetry


i know you need your sleep now
i know your life's been hard
but many men have fallen
where you promised to stand guard



i never asked but
i heard that you cast
your lot along with the poor
but then i overheard
your prayer
that you be this
and nothing more
than just some
grateful faithful
favorite singing millionaire
the patron saint of envy
and the grocer of despair
working for the Yankee dollar




i know you need your sleep now
i know your life's been hard
but many men have fallen
where you promised to stand guard


ah lover
come and lie with me
if my lover is who you are
and be your
sweetest self a while
until i ask for more
my child
then let the other selves
be rung
let them manifest and come
`til love is pierced
and love is hung
and every taste
is on the tongue
and every kind
of freedom done
then oh my love
oh my love oh my love

--leonard cohen
hannover, germany 1979