Editor’s Quarter Note

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Greetings from Nashville, where the dog days are just beginning to bark and the sound of lawnmowers is perpetual. This, the second issue of Quarter Notes, places us in the momentum of that propulsive feeling with Frank J. Albert’s prose poem, “On the Road With Perpetual Motion,” kicking off our summer road trip with a healthy dose of golden hour-tinged longing.

From there, Scott Bunn takes the wheel and the aux cord, guiding us through the “smeared sounds” of David Bowie, LCD Soundsystem, and Cate LeBon. Then, a quick stop by Caroline Brooks DuBois’ porch, where she’s tethering the world to her rocking chair and writing Tom Waits a letter.

Bri Ffrench Jr. hits the gas again with a video poem and accompanying composition, speeding us down the highway of language, street signs disintegrating before us as we pass them by. Reuben Gelley Newman beams into the car right about then, and he brought snacks, too — among them, a birthday cake for Arthur Russell. This has us feeling festive, so we decide to find a karaoke bar, where we run into Arielle Gordon doing Alex Chilton proud.

At closing time we step out into the night, where Alan Howard is petting a stray dog and listening to the noise pollution — or what he poignantly calls “the hum / That you run from.” Scott Mattingly suggests we drive out past the hum and into the countryside for the night, where you can still hear a few cicadas if you listen closely. He duets with their june song beautifully, and we’re all feeling peaceful. It’s been a long day on the road. Kelly Morgan cues up Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay” and we stretch out into the dreamy invitation of a ghazal.

I’m deeply honored to be along for the ride these brilliant contributors have mapped out for us. You’re going to want to strap in!

Keep listening,

Lou Turner, editor

PS: Fall submissions are open though September 30!

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