Leonard Cohen has gone silent. Five potent words with no meaning to those who love him. For his stillness gives us pause for reflection. Who was this man, to have moved millions and himself remaining so humble?

I have tried to surrender, but it never really takes for very long. Cohen knew this; he knew human nature.

He dispensed his medicine via words and music, but most of all by displaying his naked soul, his history of depression, his failure to accomplish a Hollywood-type success. Of course he didn’t want that anyway. His work is esoteric in the best possible sense of that meaning. To decode any of his work, you simply need to listen with your heart.

The outer didn’t hold much interest for Cohen, although he had an elegance about him on that level. It came naturally, though. He didn’t try to be something via his clothing.

I loved him, but not always. When I heard him sing “Take This Waltz” on Austin City Limits, I fell in love with him. Then he sort of moved out of my view until his “Live in London” album. I saw the video of this on public television and immediately bought tickets when he played the Fox in Atlanta, Georgia.

He returned to the Fox once more and then my son and I went to Amsterdam for his final show in Europe in 2013.

Occasionally I would dream of Leonard. The last time it happened, he told me to eat a vegetable and finish my book.

Life goes on, with me eating better and writing. The tao flows as it must. Young and old Leonard have now become immortal Leonard. We who loved him love him still and on an even deeper level.

How grateful we are for his humility and brilliance, the perfect combination to continue to speak for the Cosmic Heart.

Vicki Woodyard