TATI’s & TONY’s DEAD POET TOUR // The Man by Stephen Crane

 A man said to the universe,
“Sir, I exist!”
“However,” replied the universe,
“The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.”

by STEPHEN CRANE (1871-1900)
Public Domain Poetry

blue suede blues

yeah, i really should’ve checked on the weather
because the sky goblins are just not a thing
but it’s said that to go back can be bad luck
if even to grab a forgotten umbrella
once left, one’s house should be stayed away from
so, splish of puddle, meet my blue suede shoes

today, me and my shoes have things to do
firstly, to visit that old bench in the park
it’s been looking drab and lonely recently
and the pigeons poo on it for merry sport
a stimulating rub with keen hands and suds
will bring the hardwood back to its former glory

secondly, to treat old man river to coffee
with a shot of brandy made piping hot
it’s been looking sluggish and tired recently
so, me and my shoes with a flask, bottoms up
shall give a golden shower for the ages
over the truculent swans, honking, aggrieved

and finally, to hug that weeping willow
grimly wilting in silence out there on the bank
me and my shoes with clumsy handmade scarf
with playful breath control will swaddle her nape
until the chlorophyll leaves the leaves on high
to fill the night sky with a new constellation

and postscript will find me in that same evening
placing upon porch my hopelessly damaged shoes
could they be an offering to the sky goblins
we all know they’re blue suede footwear fetishists
so, anything’s possible, is it rather not
and, hopefully, tomorrow there will be no rain

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024

the reassembled life

so glad my world is crumbling
‘cos i really want to start again
i won’t try to hold the pieces
and rebuild the walls in vain

things can never be right again
but i can weave a flaxen path
i won’t pack my travelling bag
with either despair or wrath

i’ll thaw my hands o’er new hearth
’til i emanate a renewed hope
i won’t let them claw me into
their inhuman brutal death lope

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024

the darwinian awards

carabineer cut down
on this track by a
carbine to the head
a righteous future
totally gone now
or maybe a villain
we will never know

nor do we wish to know
the lessons of history

caterpillar flattened
on this track by a
caterpillar tread
a butterfly future
totally gone now
or maybe a moth
we will never know

nor do we wish to know
the lessons of nature

nuclear family
on this track by a
nuke reduced to atoms
any future
totally gone now
anything at all
we will never know

nor do we wish to know
the lessons of humanity

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024

not for this world

& the hooded skies emptied
o’er another fallen star
it was only love undeclared
it was only consciousness after all

growing up was unavoidable
& i was taught to be unlovely
but not them
they could not have shone brighter
had they been allowed
& a hidden christ could have shown itself

how long had i been walking here
turning white noise into useless words
for all the things that could ne’er be said
for all the eyes i saw that were dead

sleepwalking down paladin lane
where even the hobos had their song
& harmonicas to play it on
just heavenly bodies now
tainted by god’s grey earth
i’d ne’er shine so bright as they
i’d ne’er fall so fine as they

where were you, hidden christ
to save us, misery, one & all
when we found no place at the table
when another epistle went unpenned
when grief was failure to participate
when i lost myself again

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024