I Received the Living Waters & Held Them in a Stagnant Pool

YOU WHO QUESTION SOULS

You who question souls,

and you to whom souls must answer,

do not cut off the soul of my son on my account.

Let the strength of his childhood lead him to you,

and the joy of his body stand him upright in your eyes.

May he discern my prayer for him,

and to whom it is uttered, and in what shame.

I received the living waters

and I held them in a stagnant pool.

I was taught but I did not teach.

I was loved but I did not love.

I weakened the name that spoke me,

and I chased the light with my own understanding.

Whisper in his ear.

Direct him to a place of learning.

Illuminate his child’s belief in mightiness.

Rescue him from those who want him with no soul,

who have their channels in the bedrooms of the rich and poor,

to draw the children into death.

Let him see me coming back.

Allow us to bring forth our souls together

to make a place for your name.

If I am too late,

redeem my yearning in his heart,

bless him with a soul that remembers you,

that he may uncover it with careful husbandry.

They who wish to devour him have grown powerful on my idleness.

They have a number for him, and a chain.

Let him see them withered in the light of your name.

Let him see their dead kingdom from the mountain of your word.

Stand him up upon his soul, bless him with the truth of manhood.

- Leonard Cohen