Category Archives: POEMS

applied philosophy

the humanist and the quietist
walked along the beach
and had a respectful dispute
about freedom of speech

their plimsolls were leaving traces
on the golden sand
the evening sun embraced them
and everything felt grand

they had time to puff on their pipes
about once or twice
before their wives distracted them
with asking for advice

their children’s wedding was pretty soon
and all was mess and froth
on top of that, the wives couldn’t agree
on the colour of the tablecloth

an hour of scandal, some broken plates
torn shreds of hair and squeal
that moment the phrase ‘freedom of speech’
seemed absurd and unreal

the humanist and the quietist
miraculously survived
but their philosophical views
were now very much deprived

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2024

bosom garden

i hid a frosted rosehip in my jacket pocket
and dreamt one day it would bloom on my chest
warmed through from its roots around my heart

and i dreamt i would walk for days
and i dreamt i would show them all
the expansive allure of my love

i would protect its fragile petals from the chill
of unkind eyes and the grasp of repressive hands
warmed instead from the light of open hearts

and i dreamt i would walk for gays
and i dreamt i would show het al
the expansive allure of love

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024

mariana

one day the currents will turn around
the waters will carry the ocean floor
the foam will meet the impossible sky
make rainclouds in the realm of angels

vociferous sirens will hymn to gods
rake their tails o’er thorny sea stars
and soldier crabs will one day return
in battalions from know-not-where

it’s all rolling away
into much stranger days
and the deeper trenches
of mariana

splendour sand kingdoms will rise and fall
leave wet traces of their past greatness
folded into eddies of possibility
many of which ne’er before conceived

whole universes to curl into shell
that i press so gentle to your tiny palm
a nautilus distillation of dreams
a whispering promise of endless scenes

it’s all rolling away
into much stranger days
and the deeper trenches
of mariana

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024

TATI’s & TONY’s DEAD POET TOUR // Eternity by William Blake

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sun rise.

by WILLIAM BLAKE (1757-1827)
Public Domain Poetry

(fried chicken) wings

everyone has a right to be ordinary
not famous, not pretty and cool
just there, without a care in the world
moving from scene to ordinary scene

pet a cat, have an allergy to fur
sneeze and have a runny nose
take out the trash, pay last month’s bill
fart quietly to avoid accusing eyes

rewatch ‘doctor who’ the twentieth time
hide a holey sock ‘neath another blanket
play ‘monster hunter’ for ten hundred hours
then lay in the dark from a monster migraine

then rise up and go, step onto the roof
spread those wings and make that jump
and save the whole world, once or thrice
because it’s hep to ordinary people

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023