You never liked to get
The letters that I sent
But now you've got the gist
Of what my letters meant
You're reading them again
The ones you didn't burn
You press them to your lips
My pages of concern
I said there'd been a flood
I said there's nothing left
I hoped that you would come
I gave you my address
One of numerous references in Cohen’s oeuvre to the Biblical flood. Here the flood is not a global catastrophe but a private disaster the man needs help in – but the woman did either not read his letters or discarded them quickly.
The Letters