The Thursday dVerse challenge posted by Jill Lyman was to write a poem in response to another poem. I have chosen Leonard Cohen’s poem “Elegy” published in his first poetry book, “Let us Compare Mythologies” in 1956. Since I couldn’t find a copy of it on the internet, I took the above photo of a print version.
I find Leonard Cohen’s poem to be open to a few interpretations. This allowed me to respond, as we often do in conversation, as if my understanding fits with his:
I shall not search for him
along cold city streets,
through lowland mists, nor
where hawks swoop for their prey.
I will turn from gunfire
and wanton cruelty,
from parched wastelands
and scarred tar sands,
to places of comfort.
I will embrace sustenance
contemplate continuity,
the warm caress of sun as
chimes sing in gentle breezes and
seeds nestle in fertile ground,
kind words of love resonating still.
~
©️2018 Ontheland
I like the last line where words continue to resonate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Frank … words do have a long life
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have written a beautiful poem in response to Cohen’s Elegy. I particularly like
” chimes sing in gentle breezes and
seeds nestle in fertile ground,
kind words of love resonating still.”
Thank you
miriam
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Miriam
LikeLike
Well done, Janice!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Frank!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😇
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent choice with ‘Elegy’ and your word choices are intriguing. The alliterative nature of your poem draws the reader in close as though we really are having that conversation across the table. Wonderfully done, Janice!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Jilly!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well done and fitting response, Janice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Ken.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amen.. 😇😎🥀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really like this.. I see it as an affirmation and extension of the poem… and now I’m sure were to find “him”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you.
LikeLike
I love the response, filled with warmth and compassion and love ~
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Grace 🙂
LikeLike
I like yours better than his, it’s happier and has a peaceful flow
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Walter…glad you like my response
LikeLiked by 1 person
i feel a deep love for nature from your gentle poem, an antithesis to Cohen in my humble opinion, a very brilliant response, so different than any I have read so far.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you … I’m not sure how Cohen would have felt about my reply…I suspect he was more steeped in Greek mythology and the Bible than I am…I love his ocean image…
LikeLiked by 1 person
An elegy of peace in response. Nicely done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Merril
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love Cohen’s depiction of this water god that is too sensitive for any but the warmest slowest ocean waves. Your use of contemporary references “city streets,” “scarred tar sands” make your response your own, and then the two poems seem to dovetail, arriving in a similar place of safety.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes 🙂 thank you for your reflections…I find that Cohen’s open style of writing allows multiple images and meanings. Writing a response felt like pulling out and expanding a thread.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful response!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very beautifully done. Rest is found only in places of calm serenity and peace.
Dwigth
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Dwight
LikeLiked by 1 person
great response to Cohen’s poem.. and yes to embracing sustenance, and resonating kind words!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂
LikeLike