'Steer your way past the ruins / of the altar and the mall'

Canadian singer and poet Leonard Cohen in 2012. (JOEL SAGET/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

Leonard Cohen's death reminded me that I hadn't listened to his last few albums; here's the opening of one song, "Steer Your Way," that I much liked (though, as usual, the quoted lyrics can't fully capture it):

Steer your way past the ruins
Of the altar and the mall
Steer your way through the fables
Of creation and the fall
Steer your way past the palaces
That rise above the rot
Year by year
Month by month
Day by day
Thought by thought