After Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen

How did you do it, David
play that secret chord
I can’t find the right combination
of notes or numbers
prayers or chants or passwords
maybe god is a bit deaf
or deep in dementia
or maybe he turned away long ago
when I stopped believing
in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy,
along with that silly rabbit
but by mistake I threw
god into the mix

Leaving a spirit wound
that hasn’t healed
I need your help, David
I am working my way through
the declensions of grief
after a rough diagnosis
stuck on anger like br’er rabbit
stuck to the tar baby
trying to move toward bargaining
light years from acceptance
yet I am hopelessly hopeful
that one day I will please the Lord
and he will still my unquiet mind
David, play that chord again
this time for me

Claire Scott is an award-winning poet who has received multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her work has appeared in the Atlanta Review, Bellevue Literary Review, New Ohio Review and Healing Muse among others. Claire is the author of Waiting to be Called and Until I Couldn’t. She is the co-author of Unfolding in Light: A Sisters’ Journey in Photography and Poetry.