help finding a poem

Mmm..this is a toughy.

The book it's presented in, Flowers for Hitler, is out of print. I did manage to find it on Amazon.com though...(click wording).

Unfortunately, I think that in order to find it, you'll have to buy the book (or go through hell trying to find it at a library). Sorry!

I have that book. Give me overnight to look it up. Perhaps until tomorrow evening.

Ha! I found it on a shelf three feet away. I will assume you meant this one, since I couldnot find one titled The Lawn.

FOLK

flowers for hitler the summer yawned
flowers all over my new grass
and here is a little village
they are painting it for a holiday
here is a little church
here is a school
here are some doggies making love
the flags are bright as laundry
flowers for hitler the summer yawned
i had it for a moment
i knew why i must thank you
i saw powerful governing men in black suits
i saw them undressed
in the arms of young mistresses
the men more naked than the naked women
the men crying quietly
No that is not it
i'm losing why i must thank you
which means i'm left with pure longing
How old are you
Do you like your thighs
i had it for a moment
i had a reason for letting the picture
of your mouth destroy my conversation
Something on the radio
the end of a Mexican song
i saw the musicians getting paid
they are not even surprised
they knew it was only a job
Now i've lost it completely
A lot of people think you are beautiful
How do i feel about that
i have no feeling about that
i had a wonderful reason for not merely
courting you
It was tied up with the newspapers
i saw secret arrangements in high offices
i saw men who loved their worldliness
even though they had looked through
big electric telescopes
they still thought their worldliness was serious
not just a hobby a taste a harmless affectation
they thought the cosmos listened
i was suddenly fearful
one of their obscure regulations
could separate us
i was ready to beg for mercy
Now i'm getting into humiliation
i've lost why i began this
i wanted to talk about your eyes
i know nothing about your eyes
and you've noticed how little i know
i want you somewhere safe
far from high offices
i'll study you later
so many people want to cry quietly beside you

- July 4, 1963

You might search a book titled
leonard cohen
selected poems

It covers poems 1956 - 1958 and includes the books
Let Us Compare Mythologies
The Spice-Box of Earth
Flowers For Hitler
Parasites of Heaven
New Poems


enjoy - edgarblythe

hmm, that (Folk) doesn't seem to be it, thanks though. If anyone else can find it I'm still looking. I know that it has a line: "rust in the engine of love and time"

Wait; I found it. Last night I misread the index.

FRONT LAWN

The snow was falling
over my penknife
There was a movie
in the fireplace
The apples were wrapped
in eight-year-old blonde hair
Starving and dirty
the janitor's daughter never
turned up in November
to pee from her sweet crack
on the gravel
I'll go back one day
when my cast is off
Elm leaves are falling
over my bow and arrow
Candy is going bad
and Boy Scout calendars
are on fire
My old mother
sits in her cadillac
laughing her Danube laugh
as I tell her that we own
all the worms
under our front lawn
Rust rust rust
in the engines of love and time

Great! Thank you so much.