Lyrics from Leonard Cohen's Anthem

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There's a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

In Utah's canyonlands, the streams are intermittent. It's a land of little rain and when there's an occasional rain, it's usually a heavy cloudburst that floods the streambed. Within a day the bottom dries up and where there's mud, it cracks and rolls up in layers. It was a fall day and a number of leaves were drifting down onto the surface.

 

Cohen's lyric was recommended by a friend because she felt that this passage had the feel of wabi-sabi, of imperfection. Is there "a crack in everything?" What light gets in? Perhaps a sense of beauty about things imperfect?

Cracked Mud in a Utah Canyon