TWO WENT TO SLEEP

My contribution to the Leonard Cohen, You're Our Man anthology is a literary palimpsest of his poem "Two Went To Sleep", which I found in the
15 Canadian Poets anthology edited by Gary Geddes back in the early '70s.

A palimpsest is a manuscript page from a scroll or book that has been scraped off and used again -- where legible traces of the original writing are still visible. A literary palimpsest is a rewrite of a literary work, where the outlines of the original are still apparent, but which has been thoroughly altered or updated in some way. To my understading, a literary palimpsest is akin to a parody, but more of a tribute. I don't find this term in either of my literary dictionaries -- but the metaphor, and the critical term, have been around for some time, as Carmen Musat on this site attests. To some extent, he argues, all literary creations are palimpsests.

Since there was no room in the anthology to publish the original (nor, I imagine, time or means to deal with copyright issues), I took liberty to post both versions here. Contrary to popular rumour, Leonard and I did not share the same bed -- but I invite you take palimpsestuous delight.

LEONARD COHEN
_______________________________

TWO WENT TO SLEEP

Two went to sleep
almost every night
one dreamed of mud
one dreamed of Asia
visiting a zeppelin
visiting Nijinsky
Two went to sleep
one reamed of ribs
one dreamed of senators
Two went to sleep
two travellers
The long marriage
in the dark
The sleep was old
the travellers were old
one dreamed of oranges
one dreamed of Carthage
Two friends asleep
years locked in travel
Good night my darling
as the dreams waved goodbye
one travelled lightly
one walked through water
visiting a chess game
visiting a booth
always returning
to wait out the day
One carried matches
one climbed a beehive
one sold an earphone
one shot a German
Two went to sleep
every sleep went together
wandering away
from an operating table
one dreamed of grass
one dreamed of spokes
one bargained nicely
one was a snowman
one counted medicine
one tasted pencils
one was a child
one was a traitor
visiting heavy industry
visiting the family
Two went to sleep
none could foretell
one went with baskets
one took a ledger
one night happy
one night in terror
Love could not bind them
Fear could not either
they went unconnected
they never knew where
always returning
to wait out the day
parting with kissing
parting with yawns
visiting Death till
they wore out their welcome
visiting Death till
the right disguise worked.





TWO WENT TO SLEEP
(after Leonard Cohen)

Two went to sleep
almost every night
one dreamed of earth
one dreamed of Europa
visiting a shuttle craft
visiting Scriabin
Two went to sleep
one dreamed of anuses
one dreamed of assemblies
Two went to sleep
two voyagers
The long tarry
in the ark
The sleep was bold
so the travellers were told
one dreamed of almonds
one dreamed of Alexandria
Two friends asleep
ages locked in travel
Good night my sweet
as the dreams waved farewell
one travelled sprightly
one walked through tombstones
visiting a web site
visiting a bar
always returning
to wait out the day
One carried a corkscrew
one climbed a salt shaker
one sold an iPod
one shot a Republican
Two went to sleep
every sleep together
wandering away
from a vivisection table
one dreamed of sable
one dreamed of Sahara
one dealt out cards
one became a statue
one counted trade agreements
one tasted scriptures
one was an embryo
one was a patrician
visiting a factory
visiting the cradle
Two went to sleep
none could foretell
one went with a calculator
one with a book
one night serene
one night in horror
Love could not hide them
Fear could not either
they went undetected
they scarcely knew where
always returning
to wait out the day
parting with embraces
parting with yeah right
visiting Death till
Death put out their eyes
visiting Death till
Death was their disguise

Our Man

Here's the cover of the Cohen anthology. The launch date is this Thursday the 17th at Westmount High School auditorium, 4350 Ste-Catherine W. (just a little west of Atwater metro, I'm told), at 7:30 pm. Admission $5. Haven't seen the tome yet myself. Margaret Atwood will be in it, I'm told; I just learned on Jack Locke's facebook site that poets participating in the launch include: Ann Weinstein, Jason Camlot, Ann Lloyd, David Solway, Donna Yates-Adelman, Michael Mirolla, Jeffrey Mackie, Angela Leuck, John Fretz, Grace Moore, Rona Feldman Shefler(a classmate of Cohen's,) erika n. white, Sandra Sjollema, Ryan Ruddick(Westmount High teacher,) Brian Campbell, and Eleni Zisimatos. A number of good poets here. No news as to whether the man himself will be in attendance. On Sept. 21 there's a gala which I can't attend, because I'm teaching that night. Details on Jack Locke's site.

Update, Sept. 17: Home from the launch of "Leonard Cohen, You're Our Man". A well-produced book, a classy occasion. A number of the poems were good-- and the DVD of praise for LC from the international space station was a surprise.

Our Lady of the Harbour

In Suzanne, the great song by Leonard Cohen, he refers to "Our Lady of the Harbour". Well, here she is, on top of the cathedral Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, here in Montreal. Around the base (below) and on domes on either side are angels. Angels also figure prominently in that song, as well as other Cohen songs and poems.

(NB, this post will be referred to in an upcoming interview on the online PQ magazine.)

Our man...

I just learned today that a poem of mine has been accepted into the Leonard Cohen: You're Our Man anthology, a local production to come out on Sept. 21, in celebration of the bard's 75th birthday. In the call for submissions, poets were invited to respond to one of LC's poems with a poem of their own. I did a palimpsest of Two Went to Sleep. Apparently, 75 poets from around the world are to be published in this anthology -- including Margaret Atwood.

Leonard, Suzanne & stuff

My namesake, Pris Campbell, did a good public service a few days back with a post featuring Leonard Cohen's recent Suzanne video, the lyrics of that classic song, and perhaps most interesting of all, a link to a lengthy interview with Suzanne. I never met her, but have a close friend who ran an alternative art gallery here of which she was an habituée. He remembers her as an eccentric, whimsical, delightful woman, and very bohemian -- as this interview bears out. It seems she has fallen on hard times of late, which is really too bad. (Check Pris' post for details.) Let's hope Leonard and/or friends can find it within themselves to scrape together the wherewithal to bail her out and ease her suffering. As he himself put it, she did give him his best song.

Some quotes on poetry, compliments of R.W. Watkins, my good squawkbox demon (I have no evil ones, as yet):

"Poetry is things that poets write."--Robert Frost

"Poetry is news that stays news."--Ezra Pound

"A good poem is like a good hot beer shit. You think, Uh, I've done it. And there's the smell of the turds, the fumes and everything. And you flush it away, and the water flows in, and there's a sense of sadness. That's what a good poem is like, a good hot beer shit. Got it?"
--Charles Bukowski

saw a bit of that today... & more to come!

In Montreal spring is like an autopsy. Everyone wants to see the inside of the frozen mammoth. Girls rip off their sleeves and the flesh is sweet and white, like wood under green bark. From the streets a sexual manifesto rises like an inflating tire, "The winter has not killed us again!"

Leonard Cohen, Beautiful Losers, 1966