modern Andersens write
without mistakes and blots
instead of candle light
they waste kilowatts
a tin soldier is no more than
a shell for microchips
Lukoje is a horseman
of the apocalypse
a little match girl
burns a town to ash
Thumbelina rides a merle
guarding a Mole’s arms cache
…the only misfit
was a nightingale
she doesn’t give a shit
she left the fairytale jarrytale
by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2016
how many tattoos
before I’ve said all
I need to say about me?
etched into my skin
definitions I don’t want
to forget.
when I’m seventy I won’t regret
having been inked,
even if wrinkled and faded,
they’re lost in the folds.
I’ll pull my skin tight
and there
I am.
I won’t ever be lost to myself.
by LISTENTOTHEBABE
© All rights reserved 2015
What happens beyond ‘They lived happily ever after’?
Ever since Pinocchio lied to the customers 9-to-5,
under the terms of his employment contract.
Now his nose doesn’t provoke peals of laughter,
Pinocchio’s settled down and even has half a mind to wive.
Yes, Pinocchio achieved everything… but something he has lacked.
That’s why on Sundays he secretly runs away to the wood,
leans against a tree and whispers silly tall tales.
He strikes roots, he revels in blissful repose…
And with foolish raptures, like in childhood,
Pinocchio looks at two magpies with long tails
that have nestled down to gossip on his branchy nose.
by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2016
unbolt me 