leonardcohenforum.com

To Jarkoo!

Delete this topic. How will Leonard Cohen die?

MarianneP

When Leonard must die
the angels will cry:
a heartbroken sparrow is dead
through winter and spring
a white bird must bring
a smile where the teardrops are shed

And some will go on
denying he's gone
and say he has just gone to sleep
but Leonard will know
that under the snow
his corpse has no reason to weep

The soul has begun
to dance with the one
he needed to love all the way
I know down the line
his songs will be mine
the pathway is love as we pray

Yes, Lightning, I had considered the 'yogi' one, but had no way to document or even accurately describe it, so just left it alone. 'Translating' to another realm holds great dignity for some. If the thread gets deleted, it won't hurt my feelings. It's not a thought I like to even cross my mind, much less consider. The environment was the only aspect I was willing to approach; the cause is totally out of the question for me.

If J decides to remove this thread it wont make nonbeing go away. Not for Leonard, and not for the rest of us.

Its like those who would like certain words to be removed from poetry. These people are the mob of reality. The Jazz polize if you will.

Peter

Peter, vad som gjorde mig "upprörd " var att skriva om hur Leonards sista andetag . Jag tror inte att han uppskattar. Jag kanske har fel .

hälsningar , MarianneP (öersätt till engelska om du vill )

You make some good points, Peter. In some societies, it's very matter of fact and dealt with very openly. I think our attitudes toward discussing it vary somewhat with our upbringing and other factors along those lines.

What maked me "upset" was the topic . How will Leonard die?

Marianne

Ahh, sooooo......



Lightning wrote:

"...However if he isn't up to it there was a pleasant practise in the Marquesas Islands, Polynesia before the Christian missionaries put a stop to it. The dying man was placed in his coffin and naked women circled round it and did an obscene dance called the Heva Heva-- so that his last moments would be filled with pleasure and his memory of earth would be the best.("Tu Leur Diras", Maddly Bamy")..."



Another practice by the good people of the Marquesas Islands, Polynesia was to beat a man's body flat, and then cut a hole with a stone battleaxe through the back and stomach. His body would then be taken up by his tormentor who would pass his own head through the aperture. In this horrific manner, with the head and arms of the slain hanging down before, and the legs behind him, the torturer would march gleefully around the village.

Those darn Christian Missionaries! They put a stop to this lovely practice too. Such a shame!

Not everyone can win at "Survivor." In no way is this dance anything like the Heva Heva.

Hi all

I don't really think there's anything wrong with discussing death - after all death is a part of life, and sooner or later folks. It's natural to think about our own mortality and that of others, especially those who have had a large impact on our lives.

But I do agree the orginal post is probably a little macabre or off. It feels like we are discussing an object rather than a real person and there's a sense of anticipation (there's that word again Georges) in the topic.

Oh well, that's my two cents worth

Zabka, stop cleaning your teeth in this word!!!!!
Georges

I can't help it....tastes so goooood! Mmmmm

Zabka (the wittiest frog i know......)

I don't really think there's anything wrong with discussing death

This is not what i whined about....this is.....

It feels like we are discussing an object rather than a real person

Just because Leonard is a 'celebrity' and just because his poems and songs are personal in nature, does not give us strangers (aka fans) carte blanche to publicy contemplate His mode of death. Macabre indeed.

I am glad to see there are some 'fans' out there who also think this subject distastful...albeit in varying degrees. Laurie

Nan, don't lets start a conversation about the wonders brought to the rest of the world by christian missionaries. All culture is relative. Not that I'm so keen on human doughnuts.

Laurie, thanks! Yeah...I don't really object so much the discussion occurring as I think its a free forum but as it progressed it did start to feel as though he was already dead.

I guess it was just a thought that Simon had as he was sitting at the keyboard.

Simon where are you? (I hope he hasn't diappeared in a puff of smoke!)

I decided not to remove this thread because
- there were already so many messages posted when I was reading this
- the general tone of this discussion is proper and factual enough
- Leonard has written so many poems/songs about death that he
probably would find the question itself quite challenging...
- I prefer to keep this Forum as open as possible (and
excercise censorship only when it cannot be avoided)
Jarkko

PS. I changed the topic to a less offensive one.