Bedtime Story Conservatory 26 21/04/2020

Hey everyone,

To kick off today's email here is a beautiful poem by Leonard Cohen which is at the beginning of his anthology 'The Book of Longing'. 'Longing' seems to be a word coming up around me a lot today, I love those days where something like that happens, something which you can anchor the meaning of your day to, it gives me a sense of comfort, to give myself and my day to the word. Today is longing, I am longing. Sending my love.

The Book of Longing - Leonard Cohen

I can't make the hills
The system is shot
I'm living on pills
For which I thank G-d

I followed the course
From chaos to art
Desire the horse
Depression the cart

I sailed like a swan
I sank like a rock
But time is long gone
Past my laughing stock

My page was too white
My ink was too thin
The day wouldn't write
What the night pencilled in

My animal howls
My angel's upset
But I'm not allowed
A trace of regret

For someone will use
What I couldn't be
My heart will be hers
Impersonally

She'll step on the path
She'll see what I mean
My will cut in half
And freedom between

For less than a second
Our lives will collide
The endless suspended
The door open wide

Then she will be born
To someone like you
What no one has done
She'll continue to do

I know she is coming
I know she will look
And that is the longing
And this is the book

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​Today's reading is most of the first chapter of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men 1937. One of those books a lot of people read in school, I revisited it today and it resonated with me in a whole new way. The book tells the story of two migrants working on a ranch, and is inspired by Steinbeck's own experiences working on a ranch as a teenager.

Link to the reading-

https://drive.google.com/open?id=11TPw6SrAaRacwRyN9VP6FfCdh5CtDq8T

Link to previous readings-

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1t4v042zpGgwI7KN6_ST_tAthqm63J22V

Warm wishes,

Sam