Dear Leonard, Thanks for the trouble you took

Dear Leonard,

It’s three in the arvo, the end of September

I’m writing you now just to tell you I thank you

Australia is burning, but that’s climate change

Wherever we go now the weather is strange

*

And although that you’re gone, we play your songs often,

Though the fact you’re not here for me never softens

*

And when friends come by for a chat or a beer

We stand and salute you with cheers

For the nights that were boozy and dear

and the ones that were starry and clear

*

The last time we saw you you hardly looked older

You pranced on the stage like an overgrown toddler

While the crowd clapped and screamed and we danced till we dropped

Never wanting the night or the music to stop

*

And you treated the world to a slice of your life

With those beautiful words that cut deep as a knife

*

Well, I still see you there on the stage

So well dressed, so cool and so thin

Standing there with that ironic grin

We all send our regards.

*

And what can we tell you, our poet, our singer

What could we possibly say?

I guess that we miss you, I guess that we loved you,

We’re glad that you came in our way

*

Although you’ll never come by now for oranges or tea,

Your songs left the world better, so sleep soft and sleep free

*

Yes, and thanks for the trouble you took

calling out lies,

And those songs that were honest and wise.

*

So, when friends come by for a chat or a beer

We’ll stand and salute you with ‘cheers’.

With thanks for the nights that were dear

Full of music so wise and so clear.

Sincerely, C. Moffat

This poem is a cheeky homage to Leonard Cohen's Famous Blue Raincoat - an epistolary poem/song that is a masterclass in the form. I'm deliberately attempting to follow his rhythms and riff back at him. If you haven't come across Famous Blue Raincoat, track it down and have a listen. The lines

Thanks for the trouble you took

from her eyes

I thought it was there for good

So I never tried

are a gut punch for me every time.