Avalanche

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 centre, the centre 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 I 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 And 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 --- Avalanche - Leonard Cohen