World War 3

[Wjames]

World War 3


0. Another Stranger Song

Did Leonard Cohen weep when he heard
what happened here -- what happened there --

the man's so Zen
I don't think he went to heaven.
I don't think he needed God This line seems redundant after the previous.
when he cried out Hallelujah
on nine/eleven --
he cried out of posterity.

It's the Chelsea Hotel
he missed when the bell The rhyme seems a little out of place, maybe it would work better if it was in the middle of a line, so it seems incidental. 
tolled for him, when he sank
deep into Abraham's bosom --

2. Reply to a Postcard

How could you
walking dead on red slaver dew 
still smell blue
when that cold infernal breath "red slaver dew" and "cold infernal breath" strike me as a little wordy.
you call a taut string death
snaps at Jew
and laughs?
Neck and neck,
some greater horror waits for me,
I'm sure. Shot in the head, at least you
had a Fanni and her fanny too
to comfort you -- while I,
I'm far too young. I like this "while I, I'm far too young" a lot - I can hear someone saying it.

1. Duino Castle

He grasped and let go, chose and achieved, but you,
you grasped and gave, held on and stole
some minute portion of the glory for yourself,
not caring about the Other. Distant, all you did
was fear, or weep, or wave with cleverness --
all we did. But hearing again God's call I like the "all we did" for the same reasons as the "while I" bit.
and wrestling with his angel, now I see: there are the men
who do the deeds, and then there are the men
who tell them. Like you, I shan't sing fact
when the heroes are revealed, when these ravening rivers
of righteous men and clowns are drowned in gas: I like the "ravening rivers", I think the alliteration of "righteous" is a little too much, though.
distant, I will paint the picture of another Samson 
tearing down the pillars of Satan's tomb
then show it as truth to the rising dead.

3. Woodstock in Taguig

Tell me when it's time to march --
I will not march.
Show me what you're fighting for --
I will not march.
Give me your thoughts, give me your feelings --
I'll understand, and will not march.
Feel me with hope, teach me with love --
all the more, I will not march.
Threaten me with the doom of an age --
I will not march. 

Witness this: on the road to Yasgur's farm,
Capitol Hill, Malacañang,
a black thing lies --
for what is stardust,
billion-year-old carbon,
but some ugly lump of coal? I like # 3, the spirit of woodstock is (in my mind) ironically opposed such self-indulgent displays as woodstock. I also really like the song (particuarly CSNY's cover), so that helps.

I enjoyed reading this.