Throwback Friday, Destination

Continuing the Leonard Cohen thread from yesterday, today’s Throwback Friday poem, Destination (June 2024), began as a “writing between the lines” exercise for our Dome Poets group here in Geelong. Using Cohen’s The Goal as my guide (shared below), I tried to shape a companion poem that sits quietly between each of his lines.

Destination, by Ivor Steven

The curtains are open
The front door is ajar
So, I can hear her sing
From her distant star

I do not own much
My soul is a gold mine
I haven’t lost my touch
My heart is kind

I share what I have
I have hope and love
Couldn’t stop the flood
Couldn’t hold her glove

I walk alone
I look content
Regrets are few
Despair ferments

I push on and on
I do not complain
I’m still alive
I’m numb to the pain

No one asks
No one knows
About finality
Under the snow

===========================

“The Goal”, by Leonard Cohen


I can’t leave my house
Or answer the phone
I’m going down again
But I’m not alone

Settling at last
Accounts of the soul
This for the trash
That paid in full

As for the fall, it
Began long ago
Can’t stop the rain
Can’t stop the snow

I sit in my chair
I look at the street
The neighbor returns
My smile of defeat

I move with the leaves
I shine with the chrome
I’m almost alive
I’m almost at home

No one to follow
And nothing to teach
Except that the goal
Falls short of the reach





And finally, before the night fades, the poem whose shadows and truths shaped my own lines — Leonard Cohen’s The Goal.

.

Until Eyes Hear Sound

Amazon >> Amazon.com : Until Eyes Hear Sound

Lulu Books >>  Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)

Perceptions:

Amazon >>  Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >>  Perceptions (lulu.com)

Tullawalla:

Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books

OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.

Ivor Steven ©  August 2026