The Territory is warming up these days and more people are out there taking walks in the bright sun. There is beauty all around and that means it’s time to reflect that in a book. Now I know that much of the literature that I have brought into The Territory gets harsh to read and concentrates on the uglier aspects of existing but The Territory’s intensity isn’t a negative. In fact, intensity is only more accessible and at times, palatable when it is dealing with a negative but that’s not all there is. There is intensity in beauty, in quietness, in the midst of the mundane. It can be found anywhere but sometimes it won’t reveal it’s self to you immediately. You have to look. A very enticing example of this comes in The Book of Longing TBOL is the newest book by Leonard Cohen, yes that Leonard Cohen. LC has written many books of poetry and a few novels. I have always liked his poetry more than his novels. They have always hit me more for some reason. One thing is to be sure though is that his books get better as he goes. LC takes a very long time to do anything creatively it seems and his books show that more than his music in my opinion. One gets the sense that there is not one word that is thrown in casually in TBOL. It is respectful to the point of being apologetic but not in giving up a sense of self. It is a book of wanting. Of a need to transcend ones current situation to something better. It finds much greatness in some very small things that one would be apt to overlook. Many times, poetry can be like a magnifying glass that gives you perspective that you didn’t quite understand with your stock eyesight. And though the sun is shining outside and people are beginning to wear brighter colors in less amounts, give yourself an opportunity to let that wait and with the sun shining on your back, take in some of TBOL.