THE BEST India has the best Ice Cream America has the best Chocolate England has the best Phlegm Spain has the best Worms Italy has the best Mist Israel has the best Self-Mockery Canada has the best Light Mexico has the best Eagles Portugal has the best Circles Egypt has the best Paper Morocco has the best Jews Japan has the best Creases I've been to too many countries I died when I left Montreal I met women I didn't understand I pretended to get interested in food But it was all The Fear of Snow It was all the Will of G-d It was all The Heart swallowing The Other Organs It was Five Days of Summer and Two Days of Spring Mostly it was the Death of my Dog Sorrow is the time to begin Longing is the place to rejoice But I did not begin Longing is the place to rejoice But I did not begin and I did not rejoice I was lazy in G-d Books lie open all around me Despite my efforts they keep coming into my room And there is a slab of old stone with cuneiform inscriptions When I lived in Montreal I knew what to wear I had old clothes and old friends and my dog had been dead for only ten or fifteen years Fortunately there is no space for regret in the Poverty of these Reflections Copyright © 1999 by Leonard Cohen. All rights reserved. Reprinted here with Leonard Cohen's permission. Also published in Intensity, Spring 1999 issue (issue 4/volume 12).