If I could tell you...

If I could tell you
the laws of my longing
you would be here
on behalf of your greed
the witness of a hungry man
who does not care
if you are naked or shy

Because now that I
can't use it or feel it
I know for a fact
that I am beautiful
and more than anything
you want a beautiful slave
to make you cry

And long after that
whenever I touched you
whenever you undressed
you would need to know
what I was thinking
and you could be as treacherous
and you know you are
you would be a spy

And then something would happen
that would crush us
and free us
and destroy completely
whatever had been
and we would have begun
to signal one another
each time before we lie

p46 Leonard Cohen, 1972, The Energy of Slaves. Jonathon Cape Ltd. London.