Lullaby for Ruth (John William Davis)

Last night was the "official" full moon, but I didn't have a chance to post about it... since I was viewing it, enveloped in a dimensional cloud cover... from the steaming warmth of my jacuzzi... sipping La Fin du Monde beer... deep in conversation with Danny Schmidt after his show at the Luna Star Cafe a few hours previous...

John William Davis appeared at the same cafe this evening and, being a respectful and appreciative admirer of his music as well, I had to attend - this is a song he wrote for his daughter...

SONG: Lullaby for Ruth by John William Davis

BOOK: The Moon's Lullaby by Josephine Nobisso, Glo Coalson (Illustrator)

POEM: Moon by Billy Collins

The moon is full tonight

an illustration for sheet music,

an image in Matthew Arnold

glimmering on the English Channel,

or a ghost over a smoldering battlefield

in one of the history plays.

It's as full as it was

in that poem by Coleridge

where he carries his year-old son

into the orchard behind the cottage

and turns the baby's face to the sky

to see for the first time

the earth's bright companion,

something amazing to make his crying seem small.

And if you wanted to follow this example,

tonight would be the night

to carry some tiny creature outside

and introduce him to the moon.

And if your house has no child,

you can always gather into your arms

the sleeping infant of yourself,

as I have done tonight,

and carry him outdoors,

all limp in his tattered blanket,

making sure to steady his lolling head

with the palm of your hand.

And while the wind ruffles the pear trees

in the corner of the orchard

and dark roses wave against a stone wall,

you can turn him on your shoulder

and walk in circles on the lawn

drunk with the light.

You can lift him up into the sky,

your eyes nearly as wide as his,

as the moon climbs high into the night.

QUOTE: "By night only crazy things, like the full moon and the whippoorwill and us, are busy." ~ Charles Olson

Dreamland (Mary Chapin Carpenter)

I read about Down at the Sea Hotel on the Mary Chapin Carpenter discussion list... and just ordered a copy for myself and for my 11-year-old niece for her recent birthday - rest in peace, Bob Feldman (who I was very honored to meet at various Folk Alliances)...

It's "a storybook-music CD, illustrating and inspired by a Greg Brown song, featuring lullabies written by celebrated songwriters of our time (Neil Young, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Billy Joel, Carole King, Don Henley, Nanci Griffith, Tom Waits, Jesse Winchester, Steve Earle, Gord Downie, Bruce Cockburn, Marc Cohn and Jim Cuddy) and performed by artists presently signed to the prestigious Minnesota roots music label Red House Records (Eliza Gilkyson, Guy Davis, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky, Lynn Miles and The Wailin' Jennys.

The project is dedicated to the memory of Bob Feldman, the well-beloved founder of Red House Records. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Breast Cancer Fund, an organization dedicated to eliminating the environmental causes of breast cancer. "

Full tracklist here...

SONG: Dreamland by Mary Chapin Carpenter

BOOK: Down at the Sea Hotel by Greg Brown

POEM: The Sciences Sing a Lullabye by Albert Goldbarth

Physics says: go to sleep. Of course
you're tired. Every atom in you
has been dancing the shimmy in silver shoes
nonstop from mitosis to now.
Quit tapping your feet. They'll dance
inside themselves without you. Go to sleep.

Geology says: it will be all right. Slow inch
by inch America is giving itself
to the ocean. Go to sleep. Let darkness
lap at your sides. Give darkness an inch.
You aren't alone. All of the continents used to be
one body. You aren't alone. Go to sleep.

Astronomy says: the sun will rise tomorrow,
Zoology says: on rainbow-fish and lithe gazelle,
Psychology says: but first it has to be night, so
Biology says: the body-clocks are stopped all over town
and
History says: here are the blankets, layer on layer, down and down.

QUOTE: "Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you." ~ Marsha Norman