the goal

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

fall short of the reach.

(Leonard Cohen, in "Thanks for the dance", 2019)