The Lovers’ Chronicle 30 April – tell me – art by Luigi Russolo – verse by John Crowe Ransom

Dear Zazie,

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

Rhett

The Lovers’ Chronicle

Dear Muse,

live from The Peabody in Memphis y’all

pre-you,
if i was pickin’ a song for today it would have been
‘’Don’t Tell Me (What Love Can Do)’’ by Van Halen,
with lyrics by Sammy
’’As much as you like VH you disliked love’’
oh yes, it was on my banned word list
’’But now’’
oh i would go with one of our pal Bret’s songs
from his album Through the Fire;
“Hey now, can you feel it? Tell me,
When you feel it, try and bring it on and shine”
because together we can feel it
”And we have been shining”

© copyright 2023.2024 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

check out Bret’s music at bretmosley.com 

another theme that could lay claim to every day; a journey of, i will tell you mine now you tell me yours; younger days were governed by not bein’ shy about expressin’ opinions because everything was known which led to too much talkin’ and playin’ the fool, as the evidence started comin’ in, slowly then in tidal waves, stopped movin’ my lips so much and started listenin’, an art form most need to learn, then found in there somewhere the urge to tell stories, especially for you, so saddle up, more on the way

© copyright 2022.2024 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

clearly in the throes
of an illusory vision

i could see, and i said,
as breath would allow,
wake, wake from sleep
but i would not

i shook my head,
no i cannot,
i must tell you
i cannot go
until i have told you
all that you must hear

and outside
the rain
falls steady

© copyright 2021 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

Pale Love, Pale Rider

hey how ya doin’
fine
been awhile since we chatted
still busy at work
i see the pandemic has not
made you more talkative
no, i do feel a shift comin’ on
never was fond of crowds
or people, now feelin’ less so
got everything we need here
yup
somethin’ to write on or with,
plenty good movies to watch
and most restaurants are open
or doin’ takeout
and we have plenty of mezcal
a solitudes paradise
tell me about it

© copyright 2020.2024 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

“I don’t feel well.”
-holdin’ you-
well, i think
you have never felt better

a smile, then…
“I should be getting up,
there’s much to do.”
no, i will take care
of everything
just relax and rest
it is little that i can do
for one who has done so much

a sigh, then,…
“But don’t leave just yet,
stay with me.”
as you wish, so it is
“Tell me again.”
-smilin’ and teasin’-
tell you that
which you already
know so well
“Yes, tell me.”
that which i love to tell
“Yes, yes, tell me
what I long to hear.”

i begin…

© copyright 2019 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

yes do please
i am the best listener i know
someone asked why i was so quiet
i said, i have not figured out how
to listen when my lips are movin’
storytellers are observers
and nothin’ should interfere
with that, we have a purpose 
and if that means you hear
little more from me
than yup or nope
do not be offended
i am listenin’
for your story

© copyright 2018.2024 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

Ah, the sweet, or not,
Sound of a forty
Mile per hour wind
Blowin’ snow in near
Blizzard conditions
Life on the High Plains

© copyright 2017 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

She said she did not feel well.
Holdin’ her in his arms he said,
well, I think you have never felt better.
She managed a smile and said,
I should be getting up, there is much to do.
Nonsense, he said, I shall make all the arrangements.
It is little that I can do for one who has done so much.
You just relax, he continued, and try to rest.
She sighed and felt the tension start to ebb away.
But don’t leave just yet, she said. Stay with me.
As the lady wishes, he said, so it is.
She looked up at him and said, tell me again.
He smiled and teased, tell you that
which you already know so well?
Yes, tell me.
That which I love to say?
Yes. She smiled, yes, tell me that
which I long to hear.
He began…

© copyright 2016 Mac Tag all rights reserved

I am good at
runnin’ away
A settled life
never suited
me. More than once
packed all my gear
in my truck and
hit the road and
never looked back

Hey High Lonesome
Where you been? Sure
I have time for
you. Pull up a
chair and we will
drink to old times
and times to come

High lonesome man
Do what i can
Writin’ my songs
Payin’ for wrongs
Just a high lonesome man
Stay away if you can

© copyright 2015 Mac Tag all rights reserved

My lips pressed against
Your moistenin’ depths
Incessant wet friction
Builds, bursts wave on wave
Carries you away

© copyright 2014 Mac Tag all rights reserved

Today is the birthday of Luigi Russolo (Portogruaro, Italy 30 April 1885 – 6 February 1947 Cerro, Italy); Futurist painter, composer, builder of experimental musical instruments, and the author of the manifesto The Art of Noises (1913). 

Russolo completed his secondary education at Seminary of Portograuro in 1901, after which he moved to Milan and began gaining interest in the arts. He is often regarded as one of the first noise music experimental composers with his performances of noise music concerts in 1913–14 and then again after World War I, notably in Paris in 1921. He designed and constructed a number of noise-generating devices called Intonarumori.

Gallery

 Russolo’s grave in Laveno Mombello

Today is the birthday of John Crowe Ransom (Pulaski, Tennessee, April 30, 1888 – July 3, 1974 Gambier, Ohio); educator, scholar, literary critic, poet, essayist and editor.  He is considered to be a founder of the New Criticism school of literary criticism.  As a faculty member at Kenyon College, he was the first editor of the widely regarded Kenyon Review.  Highly respected as a teacher and mentor to a generation of accomplished students, he also was a prize-winning poet and essayist.

Ransom at Kenyon

• For I could tell you a story which is true;
  I know a lady with a terrible tongue,
  Blear eyes fallen from blue,
  All her perfections tarnished—and yet it is not long
  Since she was lovelier than any of you.
  • “Blue Girls”, line 13, from Two Gentlemen in Bonds (1927).
• And weeping fast as she had breath
  Janet implored us, “Wake her from her sleep!”
  And would not be instructed in how deep
  Was the forgetful kingdom of death.
  • “Janet Waking”, line 25, from Two Gentlemen in Bonds (1927).

Chills and Fevers (1924)

• And a wandering beauty is a blade out of its scabbard.
  You know how dangerous, gentlemen of threescore?
  May you know it yet ten more.
  • “Judith of Bethulia”, line 4.
• Here lies a lady of beauty and high degree.
  Of chills and fever she died, of fever and chills,
  The delight of her husbands, her aunts, an infant of three,
  And of medicos marveling sweetly on her ills.
  • “Here Lies a Lady”, line 1.
• Two evils, monstrous either one apart,
  Possessed me, and were long and loath at going:
  A cry of Absence, Absence, in the heart,
  And in the wood the furious winter blowing.
  • “Winter Remembered”, line 1.

thanks for stoppin’ by y’all

mac tag