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Tuesday, December 19, 2017

The Killers




The killers that run
the other countries
are trying to get us
to overthrow the killers
that run our own
I for one
prefer the rule
of our native killers
I am convinced
the foreign killer
will kill more of us
than the old familiar killer does
Frankly I don’t believe
anyone out there
really wants us to solve
our social problems
I base this all on how I feel
about The Man Next Door


In the vicinity of L. Cohen
I just hope he doesn’t
get any uglier
Therefore I am a patriot
I don’t like to see
a burning flag
because it excites
the killers on either side
to unfortunate excess
which goes on gaily
quite unchecked
until everyone is dead


- From “The Energy Of Slaves”

Leonard Cohen double ca. 1979

1 comment:

Ann Diamond said...

Note the interesting parallel structure in the above poem:

"The killers ... the killers...
I for one"

Very like Leonard to reveal himself in subtle ways.