poemetry

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Meeting Leonard...

It was a warm, sunny day in beautiful Nashville. I left my hotel, passing by the venue where Leonard Cohen would be playing that night and crossed the street to where there were two fountains I had grown fond of since I arrived in town the previous day. The fountains flanked a massive, column-intensive state building. There is a War Memorial there if you keep walking left in the large, open courtyard with the bookend fountains--a single, lacey-white bubbling cascade of water sung in the middle of large square pools of water.

Sitting on a marble bench that lined a planter for about twenty feet, while facing the sun and fountain, I took off my jacket and lit a cigarette. It was like a summer day in Juneau, this glorious fall day in Nashville. I had a notebook with me and was about to dig it out of my purse along with a black gel pen that makes my uber sloppy handwriting a little less indecipherable when I noticed a slight man approaching. He was wearing a beret and a light, waist-length jacket. I'd taken a long walk to Broadway that morning and had my sandals off to cool my feet on the smooth stone. The man continued on towards the fountain I had staked claim to and I hoped he continued on down towards the center of the long seating so I could still feel alone with my thoughts and not worry about bothering a stranger with cigarette smoke. When he got almost to the corner section where I was I paused and looked harder. Was that Leonard? A shift in profile pretty much confirmed it was him.

Should I say something? I didn't want to be 'bugged' so why should he? But then again, it was an opportunity I would probably end up regretting if I didn't say something, so I surreptitiously slipped my watch off and asked if he knew what time it is. He said he did not.
So I said, "Okay, thanks."
And he said, "Nice day, isn't it?"
And I said, "Yes, beautiful."
And he continued on down the path that surrounded the fountain and I swear out of the corner of my eye, I saw him skipping.

None of this is true. Well, none of the parts involving Leonard are true. I never saw him...but I did have a nice conversation with that fountain and my notebook.


2 Comments:

  • Laurie,
    Thank you for the lovely story and photo.
    You captured the light . . and I think that must've been Leonard; skipping in the sun.
    Come back to Nashville and don't forget to bring your gel pen and notebook!
    Your new friend,
    Robbin

    By Anonymous Robbin Bach, Nashville, at 2:23 PM  

  • Haha... and there I was thinking how 'like you' it would be to handle it the way your phantom self did. A wonderful description. I've been watching for your own account of the concert to appear on Jarkko's or Anjani's site and then thought, "Aha! Of course, she put it on her own blog" ... well, she did... sorta. Am still VERY interested in your comments beyond The Darkness.

    Aha... my word verification today is "deary" ~ so... Deary? ;)


    ~ Lizzy

    By Blogger Lizzy, at 4:44 PM  

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