shadows throw people onto the pavement
to slip away between the cracks & furrows
to an ocean somewhere beneath the city
where sunken bones & dead dreams recriminate
with golden teeth the stonefishes greet them
such disarming smiles before they jab them
& the bubbles of hope swirl to the bottom
to be sucked clean under tectonic & sand
remember me tripping on cobblestone
remember it ripping through skin & bone
falling like alice to the antipodes
to go through that fine gravity filter
one must first relinquish personhood
& reach emersion at the far side of firma
find a meaningful death before one’s birth
in this world the shadows are disappearing
unanchored from the people we have lost
fading away, so happy, oblivious
to all suffering done, never to return
remember me tripping on cobblestone
remember it ripping through skin & bone
falling like alice to the antipodes
by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024
unbolt me 
Another good one that begs to be sung.
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We should produce a double album of dark folk songs using our poetry, I’m feeling. That could be very cool!
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Yes! So go do it already.
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Shadows do cause issues, they can be phantoms that totally hide in the dark.
Gary Avants Forbear Productions * *garyavants66@gmail.com garyavants66@gmail.com
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Or they can represent a deeper authenticity that is too often easily maligned. I guess it depends on how one looks at it.
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Yes.
Gary Avants Forbear Productions * *garyavants66@gmail.com garyavants66@gmail.com
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💚 this the occasion I say to myself gee I wish I wrote that.
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If it’s any consolation, I get that too. A certain poet whose work we featured recently comes to mind… 😉
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🤣
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😝
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in this world the shadows are disappearing
unanchored from the people we have lost
such an unsettling and wonderful image (K)
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Thank you so much! 🙏
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This line resonates so well “remember me tripping on cobblestone
remember it ripping through skin & bone
falling like alice to the antipodes”! Sounds like a rough fall—Alice had Wonderland to catch her, but some end up in scrapes and bruises. Guess gravity doesn’t believe in fairy tales or maybe my understanding of gravity is limited!
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I think you have a good handle on gravity’s lack of belief in fairy tales! 😉
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Well, gravity’s never been one for happy endings—it always brings things down! Is it not how gravity works?
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You’re dropping truth bombs like there’s no tomorrow!
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Gosh, this is wonderful and brilliant poetry. Every word, carefully placed imagery on many poignant levels on the vicissitudes of this world…”that fine gravel filter”! Bravo!! Tetiana and Tony well done!
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Aw, Suzette, you’re so very kind. Thank you! 😊
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You are most welcome!
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