The Lovers’ Chronicle 15 September – waitin’, reprise no. 2 – verse by Bocage – art by Dirk Berend Nanninga & Margaret Keane

Dear Zazie,   Here is today’s Lovers’ Chronicle from Mac Tag dedicated to his muse.  Follow us on twitter @cowboycoleridge.

Rhett

The Lovers’ Chronicle

Dear Muse,

dream wait…
this must be a dream because
i am sittin’ here waitin’ for somethin’
and i do not wait for any one or thing,
well, lets have some music, please;
’’Been waitin’ for the bus all day’’
thank you, the answer to ZZ Top
is keep it comin’
now you may continue
So no waiting for you;
no, i either did with what i had
or did without, if waitin’ was required
And what about love;
perfect example, whenever i got close
to anything resemblin’ love,
there was no hesitatin’,
i jumped right in
Then jumped right out;
again, no waitin’,
as soon as i realized it was not love
i started lookin’ for the back door;
And what about Godot;
now you have somethin’ else to do,
you can wait for him;
Hey baby, what are doing; asks the luscious redhead;
evidently waitin’ for you to save me from this weird dream
Let’s go my love;
we wait for no one

© copyright 2024 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

had anyone asked
somewhere
along the time-line,
how long would you wait
“That would depend on when”
agree, youth would have answered,
not long, it is just around the corner
“Age would have answered,
as long as it takes”
and if asked,
what if time runs out
“If it does, as you’d say,
it was a good ride”
ha, well done, but for us,
it was right wait and great ride

© copyright 2023 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

a category for which a lifetime achievement award can be claimed, though some may call it dubious; in the time it took to extricate from a bad relationship, one friend thought it crazy, she practically demanded one day; what would it take; the cost was high, but if that was the price to git here, then worth the wait

© copyright 2022.2023 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

plenty of that, to get this far
in several areas but lets focus
on writin’ to start

to git to where
i could begin
took 39 years

to git to where
i could do it daily
took another 18

as for gittin’ to where
i could be ready
to be with someone
as worthy as you
only 60 years

the wait was worth it

© copyright 2021.2023 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

Pale Love, Pale Rider

waitin’
windows open
in bed,
watchin’
behind closed eyes
images of passion
carryin’ us away

the words said
and what we felt

replayin’ the feelin’s
of together, turnin’
the visions over
and over
not wantin’ to let go
wantin’ to believe
again

i pull the sheet back
are you comin

© copyright 2020 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

for Sophie

so many roads

walked alone

but now,
order another french 77
and see

if i can even come close

no doubt, a connection
that speaks of a time
and place i had long
given up for dead

bring it back
bring it back

do you know
what this means
to me

i think of you
and nothin’ beyond

why, yes
writin' verse
in a bar
one of my
favorite things

© Copyright 2019 Mac tag/cowboy Coleridge all rights reserved

incapable of stayin’ in one place
prone to tenderness
but not a fan of,
which is to say
scared shitless,
of intimacy

a drink in hand
devoted to the moments,
recalled and placed at the altar
this is the vision, from where i wait

© copyright 2018 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

awake somewhere
around three-thirty
was it a spirit,
likely not
they no longer
speak to me
as they once did

was it the moonbeam
movin’ across my bed
was it you
most likely
i arrange
my many pillows
and wait

then from afar, the music
a strange melody,
slow and mournful
beginnin’ with two or three
high notes, and descendin’
at each couplet

descendin’, almost
imperceptible
into solemnity
a smothered
enchantin’
sound
then it diminishes,
and dies away
into silence

© copyright 2017 mac tag/cowboy Coleridge all rights reserved

Blue eyes, tanned face
Unwaverin’ countenance
Prone to wide open spaces
Still capable of inspired tenderness
Survivin’ all stages and phases

© copyright 2016 mac tag/cowboy Coleridge all rights reserved

Be silent; Drawn through prairies by desire
Naked body shiverin’, wave on wave
Slowly, turnin’ dreamy eyes toward you

© copyright 2015 mac tag/cowboy Coleridge all rights reserved

Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage

Today is the birthday of Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage (Manuel Maria Barbosa l’Hedois du Bocage; Setubal, Portugal; 15 September 1765 – 21 December 1805 Lisbon); Neoclassic poet, writing at the beginning of his career under the pen name Elmano Sadino.

At the age of fourteen, he suddenly left school and joined the 7th Infantry Regiment; but tiring of garrison life at Setúbal after two years, he decided to enter the Portuguese navy. He proceeded to the Royal Marine Academy in Lisbon but instead of studying he pursued romantic adventures. For the next five years he had numerous love affairs, and his retentive memory and extraordinary talent for improvisation gained him a host of admirers and turned his head.

a purifying influence came into his life in the shape of a real affection for the two beautiful daughters of D. António Bersane Leite, which drew from him verses of true feeling mixed with regrets for the past. He would have married the younger lady, D. Anna Perpétua (Analia), but his earlier excesses had ruined his health.

In 1804 the illness (syphilis) from which he suffered worsened, and the approach of death inspired some beautiful sonnets, including one directed to D. Maria, elder sister of Analia, who visited and consoled him. 

Verse

A self-portrait in verse…

Magro, de olhos azuis, carão moreno,
Bem servido de pés, meão na altura,
Triste de facha, o mesmo de figura,
Nariz alto no meio, e não pequeno;
Incapaz de assistir num só terreno,
Mais propenso ao furor do que à ternura;
Bebendo em níveas mãos, por taça escura,
De zelos infernais letal veneno;
Devoto incensador de mil deidades
(Digo, de moças mil) num só memento,
E somente no altar amando os frades,
Eis Bocage, em quem luz algum talento;
Saíram dele mesmo estas verdades,
Num dia em que se achou mais pachorrento.

Translated from Portuguese:

Thin, blue eyes, tanned face,
His fair share of feet, middlin’ height,
Sad of face, the same of figure,
High nose in the middle, and not small;
Incapable of stayin’ in just one place,
More prone to furor than to tenderness;
Drinkin’ in his pale hands, out of a dark cup,
From hellish zeal lethal poison;
Devote incense burner to a thousand deities
(I mean, a thousand girls) in a single moment,
Lovin’ the friars only at the altar,
This is Bocage, in whom some talent shines;
From himself these truths have come,
On a day that he felt more dull.

O vento não se mexe, nem respira ;
Deixam de namorar-se os passarinhos,
Para me ouvir chorar ao som da lira.
– Soneto XXIX in “Rimas”. Tomo II

today is the birthday of Dirk Berend Nanninga (15 september 1868, Arnhem, Netherlands – 17 july 1954, Amsterdam); artist.

Gallery

And today is the birthday of Margaret Keane (born Peggy Doris Hawkins; Nashville September 15, 1927 – June 26, 2022 Napa, California); artist known for her paintings of subjects with big eyes. She mainly painted women, children, or animals in oil or mixed media. The work achieved commercial success through inexpensive reproductions on prints, plates, and cups. The artwork was originally attributed to Keane’s then-husband, Walter Keane. Soon after their divorce in the 1960s, Margaret claimed credit, which was established after a courtroom “paint-off” in Hawaii, in which Walter refused to participate.

A resurgence of interest in Margaret Keane’s work followed the release of Tim Burton’s 2014 biopic Big Eyes starring Amy Adams as Keane and Christoph Waltz as her husband. She maintained a gallery in San Francisco which boasts “the largest collection of Margaret Keane’s art in the entire world.” In light of the great gulf between her work’s popularity and its critical lampooning, she was sometimes referred to as the “Wayne Newton of the art world.”

Keane’s first husband was Frank Richard Ulbrich, with whom she had a daughter. In 1955, she married Walter. She left Walter in 1964, divorcing him a year later, and then relocating from San Francisco to Hawaii.

Keane met Honolulu sports writer Dan McGuire and married him in 1970. She credited McGuire with helping her to become less timid and afraid after her divorce from Walter. Keane lived in Hawaii for more than 25 years before returning to California in 1991. She resided in Napa County, California.

In 2017, at the age of 90, Keane began hospice care while still living in her home. The additional care that she received through hospice allowed her to recover enough “to paint more and relax”. She died from heart failure.

gallery

thanks for stoppin’ by y’all

Mac Tag