Back on Boogie Street
I recently purchased the 'Book of Longing', by Leonard Cohen. It has some of the best poetry I have read in a while.
Among them, one is called 'Boogie Street' which became the lyrics of the song by the same name (unless it happened the other way around). It has these two verses which always make me smile:
I'm wanted at the traffic-jam.
They're saving me a seat.
It sounds perfect for back to school season, right?
It is not what the poem/song is about though. As often with Cohen, one of the main theme is who we are, who we are becoming, and our acts in between. This is very true for this work which belongs to his time as a buddhist monk on Mt Baldy.
Of course, the poem does not provide an answer. This is a little bit disconcerting for the typical LinkedIn article reader. What se are used to be reading is usually very directed :"5 ways to...", "What not to do when...". This is probably why it feels refreshing and has this after taste of vacation.
So, how is it relevant for our series 'Poetry of Business Development' ? Well, something about focus, about being there in the moment, which comes right on the next line:
I'm what I am, and what I am,
Is back on Boogie Street.
There is a lot to be said about how the rituals invoked at the beginning of the text draw us fully into the present. This present, however mundane, is still connected to a rich context of remembrance and human relations... Something that we often re-doscover during our time off, and tend to forget very quickly bac in the office.
I do not have time and space for that today, I have to go back to the trafic jam.
I am not sure how long they can hold on to my seat...