The Lovers’ Chronicle 12 April – turned on – Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert – photography by Imogen Cunningham – art by Robert Delaunay

Dear Zazie,

Here is today’s Lovers’ Chronicle from Mac Tag.

Rhett

The Lovers’ Chronicle

Dear Muse,

today’s theme had to be about desire
as tribute to Madame Bovary
“Knowing you,
I would’ve been disappointed
otherwise”
could have been about
the recurrin’ theme,
c’est la faute de la fatalité
“Interesting,
and how that applies to us”
somethin’ brought us here
lets give thanks for the “fault”

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pretty good list so far, lookin’ back, lets focus now on creatin’; to string words together is the primary thing, started with journalin’, then lyrics, then verse, first in other’s voice, before i found mine, tryin’ with this year to change up the format, but still mostly tellin’ stories, which is really what i am, a storyteller, and what turns on the most, of course, every tale needs a purpose, every teller needs a muse, and you are the reason and the way

© copyright 2022.2024 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

by you askin’ me
to read my verse

by your smile,
the light
in your eyes,
the curve
in your hips

by our shared
unbound curiosity
and imagination

by the anticipation
of the journey
we care not where
it leads as long as
we are together

by anything
and everything
with you

© copyright 2021 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

Pale Love, Pale Rider

the need still inspires,
continuously launches
onto fresh paths
rays of light, waves
of operatic sounds,
color contrasts
creatin’ visions

cannot get free
nor do i desire to

simultaneous measures
continue, movin’ along
the only possible purpose
that could ever matter

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by the best part
the ante

the words rollin’
lengthenin’ feelin’s

comin’ on, a song,
each note carryin’
us closer

by the best part,
afterwards,
so intense
it is difficult
to understand
the nothin’ness
that came before
and we cannot help
but resign ourselves
to believe it

© copyright 2019 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

by unbound
imagination
and curiosity

by smiles,
eyes full of light,
and graceful hands

by desire for livin’
beyond ordinary

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Good news, bad news
Bad news… tension every day
Good news… one day closer

Good news, bad news
Bad news…
The damn waitin’
For the other boot to drop

Good news…
Every day gittin’ to say,
Sure as hell ain’t gonna miss that

Oh, shall we start a countdown
Fifty-three days, give or take

Through some tough travails
And down some rocky trails,
Never once asked time
To hurry the hell up

But raht now,
I just wanna know one thing,
Where is a goddamn time machine
When you need one

© copyright 2017 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

she turned me on
to absinthe, opera,
and French poetry
i turned her on
to wide open spaces,
campfires, and first light
we turned each other on
to unbound desire
and crushin’ heartache

© copyright 2016 Mac tag all rights reserved

Nighttime routine:
Iron a shirt
Polish a pair
of boots. Write. Read
and fall asleep
with you on my
mind and if I
am lucky, with
you in my dreams

***

Return and return again, where one ends
Another begins; who is dreamin’ who
The beauty and her dark shadows
If one is ardent, the eyes will see

Loveliness stretched out sensuously
However, different, you like this
It seems that this must be Limbo

At first, and as sacred, we touch,
In rhyme and rhythm and philosophy
In passionate madness
That will go to infinity

© copyright 2015 Mac tag all rights reserved

Illustration by Charles Léandre Madame Bovary, engraved by Eugène Decisy (fr). (Illustration without text on page 322: Emma as a transvestite at the ball) It was on this day in 1857 that Gustave Flaubert’s first novel Madame Bovary was published.  The book was almost an instant sensation, in part because of Flaubert’s new painstaking style of Realism, but also due to the sensational trial the book had already starred in.  When the novel was first serialized in La Revue de Paris between 1 October 1856 and 15 December 1856, public prosecutors attacked the novel for obscenity.  The resulting trial in January 1857 made the story notorious.  After Flaubert’s acquittal on 7 February 1857, Madame Bovary became a bestseller when it was published as a single volume.  The novel is now considered Flaubert’s masterpiece, as well as a seminal work of literary realism.  The story focuses on a doctor’s wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life.  Selected Quotes: C’est la faute de la fatalité ! Phrase récurrente Madame Bovary (1857), Gustave Flaubert, éd. Editions Garnier Frères, coll. Classiques Garnier, 1955, partie 3, chap. XI, p. 323 […], la parole est un laminoir qui allonge toujours les sentiments. Madame Bovary (1857), Gustave Flaubert, éd. Editions Garnier Frères, coll. Classiques Garnier, 1955, partie 3, chap. I, p. 218 Le plus médiocre libertin a rêvé des sultanes, chaque notaire porte en soi les débris d’un poète. Madame Bovary (1857), Gustave Flaubert, éd. Eugène Fasquelle, 1905, p. 264 Cette lâche docilité qui est pour bien des femmes comme le châtiment tout à la fois la rançon de l’adultère Madame Bovary (1857), Gustave Flaubert, éd. Eugène Fasquelle, 1905, p. 314 Il y a toujours après la mort de quelqu’un comme une stupéfaction qui se dégage, tant il est difficile de comprendre cette survenue du néant et de se résigner à y croire. Madame Bovary (1857), Gustave Flaubert, éd. Eugène Fasquelle, 1905, p. 379 Il ne faut pas toucher aux idoles, la dorure en reste aux mains. Madame Bovary (1857), Gustave Flaubert, éd. Editions Garnier Frères, coll. Classiques Garnier, 1955, partie 3, chap. VI, p. 263

Today is the birthday of Imogen Cunningham (Portland; April 12, 1883 – June 23, 1976 San Francisco); photographer known for her botanical photography, nudes, and industrial landscapes.  Cunningham was a member of the California-based Group f/64, known for its dedication to the sharp-focus rendition of simple subjects.

On February 11, 1915, Cunningham married etching artist, printmaker and teacher Roi Partridge. The couple divorced in 1934.

Cunningham continued to take photographs until shortly before her death. She was named Imogen after the heroine of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline.

Gallery

And today is the birthday of Robert Delaunay (Paris 12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941 Montpellier); artist who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes.  His later works were more abstract, reminiscent of Paul Klee.  His key influence related to bold use of colour and a clear love of experimentation with both depth and tone.

In 1908, after a term in the military working as a regimental librarian, he met Sonia Terk; at the time she was married to a German art dealer whom she would soon divorce. In 1909, Delaunay began to paint a series of studies of the city of Paris and the Eiffel Tower, the Eiffel Tower series.  The following year, he married Terk, and the couple settled in a studio apartment.

When World War II erupted, the Delaunays moved to the Auvergne, in an effort to avoid the invading German forces.  Suffering from cancer, Delaunay was unable to endure being moved around, and his health deteriorated. He died at age of 56. His body was reburied in 1952 in Gambais.

Gallery

thanks for stoppin’ by y’all

mac tag