by Michelle Greysen

Created on: June 24, 2009

Considered one of the world's greatest performing poets of past century, Leonard Cohen, now in his seventies is still going strong.

Cohen, known for almost five decades of poetic musical brilliance was honoured this past March as the 23rd induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This 1934 Canadian born talent was first known for his literary genius releasing his collection of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies (1956), The Spice-Box of Earth (1961), and Flowers for Hitler (1964), and his novels The Favourite Game (1963), and Beautiful Losers (1966). In the 1960's he embarked on a hugely-successful music career as a song-writer with Judy Collins recording his unmistakably-Cohen hit Suzanne. Over a dozen books later, and dozens of albums and recordings and as many awards and recognitions world-wide, Cohen is unquestionably a very celebrated literary and musical genius.

The influence of his writing is especially paramount to other poets and writers alike. Cohen's brilliantly simple gift of bringing complex emotion and lyrical rants to a blank piece of paper, comes from that very same deep dark place within where all writers go to, to write from. As a young writer in my teenage angst in the 60's & 70's, Cohen influence and sometimes almost cold words meant nothing and everything and more. Often inspiring swirling emotion and deep desires in me as a young writer to create equally haunting words like Cohen's which meant simply nothing more than what the reader wanted to read, but everything gut-churning and more that the writer needed to write.

I aspired to Cohen's gift of words. The poetry of Leonard Cohen's words didn't necessarily mean a poem, for me it meant a passion. Over the years many many many writers, through reading and listening to Cohen's magical prose discovered what inspired them in wanting to dig deep and pull out the passion hiding within their writing soul. His lyrics not only feel as though they come from within he has a way of revealing his words with a comforting shadow of coming to his page from above and beyond. His gift of words reads as if it hails from some divine intervention which came down through his pen and onto the page bringing a message for all mankind.

"Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river You can hear the boats go by You can spend the night beside her And you know that she's half crazy But that's why you want to be there ... And you want to travel with her And you want to travel blind And you know that you can trust her For she's touched your perfect body with her mind." ... Leonard Cohen

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