the moment before she smiles

just call me by name
make me turn swiftly around
lift my lowered hood
beneath a leaky awning
make us blab till the rain ends

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2022

dearthly yours

a faded plate says
it tried to end world hunger
but went belly up

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022

fade to black

pooch, go away now
i know you crave attention
(cannot feel my arms…)
i’m open to your absence
happy to be anywhere

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022

her bulwark

inert, like grey stone
inside a ribbed dewar cage
she was all heart once
the drub and thrum of seasons
now preserved for the next world

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022

the piscean age

a fish shaped pillow
thrown to the secondhand shore
gasps amid rubbish
and nobody really cares
it’s an endangered species

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2022