The Lovers’ Chronicle 24 October – all that is left – art by Konstantin Yuon

Dear Zazie, Here is today’s Lovers’ Chronicle from Mac Tag dedicated to his muse. Rhett

The Lovers’ Chronicle

Dear Muse,

all that is dream…
Scene: they are walking down a street
that dead ends at a white painted wooden
building, dark letters across the front
spell out Greune Hall -
Hey I remember you talking about this place,
says the fabulous redhead
oh yes, one of my old hangouts
-He opens the door for her and they walk in,
as soon as the staff behind the bar sees him
they call out in unison, MacGregor!-
Kind of like Norm walking in to Cheers, she says
Man where you been, asks Tavis the bartender
well after years of just gittin’ by on gittin’ by
i found a woman in Atlanta who liked what she saw
That’s great, glad to hear it; he says as he sets
two Shiner Bocks on the bar for them
-They pick up the beers and walk in to the dance hall-
Does the Dream Goddess have a purpose for our visit
absolutely, it was on this day in 2020
that i found out Jerry Jeff Walker died
He’s one of your songwriting heroes
he is and i saw him play here
more times than i can remember,
i think about those nights and good times,
singin’ along with his songs, a significant
part of who i am and it is important to me
that i share this dream story with the one
who matters most and all that is left to say,
i have a feelin’, somethin’ that i cain’t explain
like every time i hold you close

© copyright 2024 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

no song for this
“I can’t think of one”
comes from a line in an early poem
about someone tryin’ for love and missin’
“They tried till they had
nothing left”
but it was complicated,
here comes the twist,
one of ’em has to save
the other one
“Oh that is tough”
right, cannot be done
why i spent those years alone
had to save myself in case
you came along

well not all but close, not forgettin’, the anti-drama oath; started over a couple of times, did not git it right the first time, which i used to cuss, cause i shoulda, but if i had we would not have met, seems to be a theme, gittin’ it right when it counts; now more left than i imagined

narrowed down need
that helped
discovered what matters
let go all the rest

the cost was high
almost everything
but you pay
what has to be paid
without complainin’

with not much left
started writin’
my way out
who knew
it would lead to you

Pale Love, Pale Rider

i whispered, ‘am i too late,’
wherefore i took a chance
to find out if i might again

‘come and be with me’
i am found in your eyes

to find out all that is left,
of what we can become

look the stars and the shadows
fill the night, ah, you lyin’ near

we cannot begin too soon

such is the world
where the poet
bears no wounds

to induce the verse
otherwise, to start
is to have commenced
to fail, so the words
come, from a form
that frees and rebels
against handlin’

only the robust last
outlivin’, the image
endurin’ stays to us

all else
all of it
alone

“Well it’s a Bloody Mary mornin’
Baby left me without warnin’
Sometime in the night
So I’m flyin’ down to Houston
To forget the nature of my plight”

wait, hold on
so there ain’t no baby
but it is a Bloody Mary mornin’
and i am flyin’ down to Houston

for Marci

“I’m heading back from my trip
right now, single. Shit sucks.
For being a logical person,
this shouldn’t be difficult.”

“How in the hell a body
needs a head and a heart
to function, yet they give
such conflicting signals.”

you can only do so much
to save those who are lost
and you gotta make sure
you do not lose yourself

comes down to this…
only you can answer
is it worth your all,
everything you have
cuz that is pro’bly
what it will take

and make sure
you ask yourself this…
can you live
with not tryin’ anymore,
with walkin’ away

it might be
all you have left
it was all i had left

not much left
a gone dry well
drained of feelin’s,
emotions,
gonna take awhile
to fill up

why, goes several ways
but i will take it all
we will go explorin’
for answers but
for now focus on what is left
as long as there is enough
to keep this goin’ everyday
then i will be fine

Eyes unclose
Dream caresses
Yet have I come
And will I stay

Mezcal dreams
Carry me through
This desert
Mezcal dreams
Carry me through
This hurtin’
Mezcal dreams
Bring me comfort

Today is the birthday of Konstantin Yuon (Konstantin Fyodorovich Yuon or Juon; Moscow October 24 [O.S. October 12] 1875 – April 11, 1958; Moscow); painter and theatre designer associated with the Mir Iskusstva. Later, he co-founded the Union of Russian Artists and the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia.

From 1892 to 1898 he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture where Konstantin Savitsky and Konstantin Korovin were among his distinguished teachers. After graduating from the Moscow Art School he took private lessons from Valentin Serov (1898–1900). During several trips to Western Europe, particularly in Paris, he became acquainted with the cityscapes of the Impressionists, but retained his own distinctive style.

In 1900 he opened the first private painting and drawing school in Moscow. Some noted Russian painters received art education in the school (for example, Olga Zhekulina). Later he taught in Leningrad Academy of Arts and the Surikov Art Institute in Moscow. His studio in Moscow was widely used by other painters. He designed sets for plays at the Moscow Art Theatre and the Maly Theater, becoming the official designer for this theater from 1945 to 1947. He also contributed sets for operas.