Clockwork

Leonard Cohen 1934 (Westmount) – 2016 (Los Angeles, California)



the crow knows
exactly where to sit
on the yellow bench

the wave
exactly where to break

the jaw that will not
unclench
is fastened perfectly
to the writer's skull

future generations
come like clockwork
under the damp
cement arches

to include themselves
in this well-recorded
afternoon
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Submitted by RobertHaigh on June 09, 2020

Modified on April 26, 2023

14 sec read
196

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXA XX XAXX XXXX XXX
Closest metre Iambic dimeter
Characters 270
Words 47
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 3, 2, 4, 4, 3

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Norman Cohen was a highly gifted and varied writer — novelist, playright, songwriter and poet. He was already quite famous as a poet before embarking on a music career as a singer-songwriter. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and his songs have been recorded by countless other performers. Born in Montreal, Canada, in 1934, Cohen had a long and productive career. He was working right up to his death, in 2016 at the age of 82. more…

All Leonard Cohen poems | Leonard Cohen Books

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