Cont....

Yeah my friends are gone and my hair is gray
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day
Oh in the Tower of Song

Leonard Cohen - The Partisan (live in France, 1970)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Heilr2-H-WM

"The Partisan"

When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender,
this I could not do;
I took my gun and vanished.
I have changed my name so often,
I've lost my wife and children
but I have many friends,
and some of them are with me.

An old woman gave us shelter,
kept us hidden in the garret,
then the soldiers came;
she died without a whisper.

There were three of us this morning
I'm the only one this evening
but I must go on;
the frontiers are my prison.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we'll come from the shadows.

Dear Banjo,

I miss Belly more than words can say.
I have mentioned this many times on the forum.
Hopefully he'll come back one day - I only
hope it will be soon.

I agree with Poirot about Ludwig's stance on
Rolf Harris. It was baffling.

Yabby6's still around - I've noticed his posts
appearing from time to time.

Now before I forget - I'd like to Thank everyone who's
contributed to this discussion and I wish us all
a vitriolic-free New Year on this Forum.

Cheers.

My apologies, I've posted on the wrong discussion.
Please ignore my previous post.

Constance,

On the transience of things...

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away".

I tossed up between that and "How Soon is Now?" by the Smiths - on the unfairness of things ....but Shelley won out.

Dear Poirot,

Beautiful poem.

I like this quote from Leonard Cohen:

"There is a crack in everything
that's how the light gets in."

Dear Foxy,

I nice poetic wisdom. Here are two variations of it:

“Look at this window: it is nothing but a hole in the window, but because of it the whole room is full of light.” (Chuang Tzu)

“Ah! happy they whose hearts can break
And peace of pardon win!
How else may man make straight his plan
And cleanse his soul from sin?
How else but through a broken heart
May Lord Christ enter in?” (Oscar Wilde)

Happy New Year to you and all OLO debaters.