Category Archives: POEMS

GUEST POST // I Live in a House of Cats by Jen Payne

I live in a house of cats:

three before that were

one – Emily
after the poet
loved blue jays
a thing with feathers

and two – CJ
namesake Joy but
arrived with grief
that lifted with love

then 3 – Crystal
so full of life and love
she sparkled!

[ There were two drifters

Moose, who lived next door but preferred to garden here

and Little Black Kitty who learned to trust slowly but enough ]

Of course Lola,
Zen master
lost then found
found me

Now: Molly
Good Golly,
is Whippersnapper
a name for a cat?

by JEN PAYNE
© All rights reserved 2023

#war #grief #hope (#addyourhashtag)

i see clouds through the clouds
and more clouds and then the sky
it’s the colour of obsidian
shot through with arcs of rocket fry

1… 2… war coming for you
3… 4… better lock your door

i see lies through the lies
and more lies and then the truth (i hope)
but the truth can be hard to hold
burns through more hearts than can cope

5… 6… grab your crucifix
7… 8… better stay up late

i see pain through the pain
and more pain and then the pain (it’s 2023)
where are our blue skies and amber
shone through by unbroken sovereignty

9… 11… never again
23… 24… forevermore…

but i see hope through the fog of war
and i don’t care that you think me a fool
life’s better than agreeing underground
that it’s better being above the ground

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

TATI’s & TONY’s DEAD POET TOUR // The Frog Who Wished To Be As Big As The Ox. by Jean de La Fontaine

There was a little Frog
Whose home was in a bog,
And he worried ’cause he wasn’t big enough.
He sees an ox and cries:
“That’s just about my size,
If I stretch myself – Say Sister, see me puff!”

So he blew, blew, blew,
Saying: “Sister, will that do?”
But she shook her head. And then he lost his wits.
For he stretched and puffed again
Till he cracked beneath the strain,
And burst, and flew about in little bits.

by JEAN DE LA FONTAINE (1621-1695)
Public Domain Poetry

brain cancer

i shall not be a burden
i shall not forget to pray
i shall be an inspiration
i shall die in the right way

for those that plead the blood
do nothing but think they’re helping
i metastasise in compliance
in deference to the eyes that will

i shall not be a burden
i shall not say god is cruel
i shall be a demonstration
i shall die in the right way

for those that invoke the name
do nothing but think they’re helping
i catastrophise in silence
in deference to the eyes that won’t

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

sometimes…

sometimes a lone leaf on a tree
has more poesy than a whole book
sometimes a lone page in a book
has more mosey than the hole in me

sometimes a lone me in a tree
has no more pith than a hole for a heart
sometimes a lone hole for a heart
has no more kith than cliff and scree

is this how it’s gotta be
an empath tipping from reality
into the inscrutable

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023