“ I have lost a telephone
with your smell in it
I am living beside the radio
all the stations at once
but I pick out a Polish lullaby
I pick it out of the static
it fades I wait I keep the beat
it comes back almost alseep Did you take the telephone
knowing I’d sniff it immoderately
maybe heat up the plastic
to get all the crumbs of your breath and if you won’t come back
how will you phone to say
you won’t come back
so that I could at least argue
with your smell in it
I am living beside the radio
all the stations at once
but I pick out a Polish lullaby
I pick it out of the static
it fades I wait I keep the beat
it comes back almost alseep Did you take the telephone
knowing I’d sniff it immoderately
maybe heat up the plastic
to get all the crumbs of your breath and if you won’t come back
how will you phone to say
you won’t come back
so that I could at least argue
— Waiting for Marianne from “Flowers for Hitler”.
Leonard Cohen: Poems
Leonard Cohen: Poems
