The Gift of a Great Poet to a Man Such as Me

this is true

The Gift of a Great

Poet to a Man Such as Me

 

On the occasion of

My Fathers death

 

A great man wrote

To me

 

Take these words

He said

 

Take them Neville

They are yours

 

They are yours to keep

And they are free

 

Then weave them

With much love my friend

 

Into a eulogy

As Dylan rolled

 

Another stone

Leonard knelt and

 

Prayed then he

Took it home

 

Yes upon the occasion

Of my Fathers death

 

A great man

Wrote to me

 

Take these words

He said

 

And be sure my friend

To weave them

 

With both love and skill

Into his eulogy

  

Author's Note

The late & great Mr. Leonard Norman Cohen wrote back to me and gave me the thumbs up to include some of his words in said eulogy.... it has taken over seven years to get this thank you off my chest.... N

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

He honoured you and your Father and in turn you honoured your Father too. Sometimes it takes years for the right words to come. When they do you can be sure that those we loved and lost are smiling on us. Relatable Neville. I can remember reading your Father's eulogy when you posted it sometime ago. Beautiful it was too.

Chris

[Neville]

Thank you Chris .. yes these particular words have been screaming 'let us outa here' for over seven years now, so I am glad they are now free of me... or I of them......... thank you too for recalling my Fathers eulogy, and associated comments.....

Neville

[gram linski]

My (no) god N. laughing len is a hero of mine you weaved his words beautifully, the gift of a great poet is indeed his words, please feel free to check out my poem; to L.C,a simple homage of my own, you are my first and only bbf,

[Neville]

Thank you my friend for considering these words, that on its own is much appreciated I can tell ya... I shall certainly pay a visit to the page you refer to.... Neville

[Eilis]

I think people will often surprise us if we let them. Some people you just know will be full of grace. LC certainly always seemed like such a man to me.

It’s a lovely story, Neville. And I imagine a bit of a bittersweet memory with its connection to the loss of your father. But a memory for keeps, that’s for sure.

Sometimes I think loss is a living thing. It grows and evolves in us. We reach different milestones with it, and then it changes us, as well, in little ways. It’s good to read you’ve managed to reach the point where drafting that memory became possible. After all those years.

Thanks for sharing that with us folks here.

[Neville]

Thank you so much my friend, this kind and well reasoned response certainly means a lot to me... and as far as your take on loss is concerned, I have no doubt you are bang on target..... Neville

[barleygirl]

Most people wouldn't have bothered to ask! Tho I love your writing here, I am even more in awe of your character . . . honoring the work of a master & in so doing, your modesty is clear . . . plus that you have felt faithful to this goal, all this time! *smile* (((COGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Neville]

I dunno what else to say except a big thank you Margie.. I do tread a little lighter since posting these words.. my Fathers eulogy of course was posted some considerable while ago... I tend to resurrect it from time to time.... (TOPs) BG :)

[Fay Slimm]

And a worthy "thank you" the poem is - -maybe the better for waiting for woven with love and skill this eulogy would make a loved Dad very proud. An honour to have had the chance to read it my friend.

[Neville]

Many thank you's Fay my friend..

[Robert Trakofler]

wow this is pretty damn special Nev! was this the birth of your writing? cause if it was I would like to kiss Leonard on the forehead! i wont even mind digging up his grave to do it:) you are still writing that eulogy aren't you my friend!

[Neville]

Hello my friend.. thank you for taking a squint at these words today.. much appreciated and very kind.

Neville

[jacob erin-cilberto]

wow, amazing that he did this...and amazing what you did with said words...
beautiful eulogy that was worth the wait...and i am sure your father is looking down and smiling, nodding his head.
j.

[Neville]

it is amazing jacob .. the actual eulogy is posted here somewhere & yes, I certainly hope he is looking down and nodding his approval with a smile on his face... thank you .. Neville

[Lorry]

I don't not be knowing much about great poeters, but I be likeificating this and no mistakesies govner.

[Neville]

I reckon you know more than ya letting on... cheers bro.. Oh' and while I got'cha.. I just luved your Dickshun ... and before anybody asks.. dont.. okay... :)

[Lorry]

I have absolutely no idea what you mean 🤓

[Neville]

Dickshin son... furkin autocorrectshun