Poem For Cohen - Ian Lilburne

A bow tie cut in half and a quickly forgotten poem
Buried together in a back garden
A young boy’s epitaph for a too early dead father
An appropriate start for a dark poet of song
A sense of longing and loss imbrued with seriousness

This father, a tailor, bequeathed him the suits
And left him to interpret the scriptures
Free of fatherly strictures
Free too to explore without intermediary
The parameters of what it is to be a man
And to love many women
Fathoming their mystery a lifetime’s quest
His poems and songs field reports from the edge

A deep voice beyond fashion and time
A magnificent oeuvre diligently done
The soundtrack of my soul