The Letters - Leonard Cohen

You never liked to get

The letters that I sent

But now you’ve got the gist

Of what my letters meant

You’re reading them again

The ones you didn’t burn

You press them to your lips

My pages of concern

I said there’d been a flood

I said there’s nothing left

I hoped that you would come

I gave you my address

Your story was so long

The plot was so intense

It took you years to cross

The lines of self-defense

The wounded forms appear:

The loss, the full extent;

And simple kindness here

The solitude of strength

I said there’d been a flood

I said there’s nothing left

I hoped that you would come

I gave you my address

You walk into my room

You stand there at my desk

Begin your letter to

The one who’s coming next

Begin your letter to

The one who’s coming next

You never liked to get

The letters that I sent

But now you’ve got the gist

Of what my letters meant

You’re reading them again

The ones you didn’t burn

You press them to your lips

My pages of concern

I said there’d been a flood

I said there’s nothing left

I hoped that you would come

I gave you my address

Your story was so long

The plot was so intense

Took you years to cross

The lines of self-defense

The wounded forms appear:

The loss, the full extent;

And simple kindness here

The solitude of strength