(Lyrics from the song, Hallelujah, by Leonard Cohen)
[poem from ~burning woman~ by Sha’Tara]
City streets can be colder than stone
when you’re vulnerable and all alone
nor ever paved with the rich man’s gold
in threadbare clothes, wet and cold.
She comes to a familiar doorway
in the night when she’s lost her way
remembers the days of her short life
how desperately she’d run from strife
finding a hallway, a basement stair
then running again from every nightmare.
The deskman knows. She tosses her hood
and puts her hand on the worn wood.
Her words, like a voice from the tomb:
“Please, I need a cheap room.”
He smiles at her – or is it a leer?
He replies, she can smell the stale beer —
“Forty dollars for a night at the inn –
or free, and I’ll tuck you in.”
His hand slips over her cold wrist:
for the mill she will ever be grist.
Through the window, two sheets, a case:
she grabs but he says, “No need for haste.”
Here’s the key – it’s three – o – four –
and don’t forget: don’t lock the door.”
He watches her walk to the rickety stairs,
shoulders slumped, broken by despair
and as she steps on the very first rung
comes a line from a song she’d once sung:
“Baby I’ve been here before
I’ve seen this room and I’ve walked the floor
used to live alone before I knew ya
But I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
Our love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah”
One of the most beautiful song Leonard Cohen.
It is, isn’t it? I’ve always liked it. Thank you for your comment! (Traduzione: È, non è vero? Mi è sempre piaciuto. Grazie per il tuo commento!) (Sto cercando di imparare un po ‘di italiano, perché è così diverso dal francese ??? – frustrante!!!)
Well’ you are quite good!
Have a good Week ‘cara amica!
shera
Beautiful (Yours and Leonard’s). And profound.
Thank you, Frank. Hi praise coming from an author…
Superb slice of life…
Thank you, Clarissa. Glad you liked it.
The tragedy of our lives when we’re down.
It is a tragedy, but we can’t do anything about it because we need the money to fund the wars, and the elites need their tax breaks after all. Thank God for trickle down economics. If only the plutocrats would let their roofs leak a bit more, maybe we could all gather under and get good and soaked. Better than water cannons.