AVALANCHE

LEONARD COHEN

Well, I stepped into an avalanche, it covered up my soul

When I am not this hunchback that you see, I sleep beneath the golden hill


You who wish to conquer pain, you must learn, learn to serve me well





You strike my side by accident as you go down for your gold

The cripple here that you clothe and feed is neither starved nor cold

He does not ask for your company, not at the center, the center of the world

 

When I am on a pedestal, you did not raise me there

Your laws do not compel me to kneel grotesque and bare

I myself am the pedestal for this ugly hump at which you stare



You who wish to conquer pain, you must learn what makes me kind

The crumbs of love that you offer me, they're the crumbs I've left behind

Your pain is no credential here, it's just the shadow, shadow of my wound

have begun to long for you, I who have no greed

I have begun to ask for you, I who have no need

You say you've gone away from me but I can feel you when you breathe

Do not dress in those rags for me, I know you are not poor

You don't love me quite so fiercely now when you know that you are not sure

It is your turn, beloved, it is your flesh that I wear