Category Archives: POEMS

undeliverable

you arrived back home
letters ‘tween your teeth
the song on the radio
was ‘sunshine on leith’
you spat out the letters
and happily declared
that the war was over
we needn’t be scared

you ripped off the planks
opened the windows wide
let the sun shine in
on our ukrainian pride
the song on the radio
was cut by breaking news
of troop withdrawals
how we made russians lose

a sudden gust of wind
threw one letter to the floor
off the cuff i scooped it up
the return address i saw
i did not even know
that all joy could be stirred
sound and light could be cut
with only one terse word

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022

GUEST POST // blink through stone by Cassy Single

sassafras closed her eyes
and felt the sun
it was warm and comforting
the sky was a blanket of blue
the ground a carpet of green
her eyes blinked
rays of colour from the meadow
streamed into her brain
she let herself feel
see, smell and taste
the world around her
for too long she saw anguish
smelt blood and tasted ash
it was time to come alive again
let colour seep into the black
and fill in between the lines

by CASSY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022

read the fucking manual

first time users
don’t know what they’re doing
fidgeting fingers over knobs
pressing red buttons
yanking their cranks
inserting things in slots
they can’t comprehend
the message on the screen
it says: ‘you’re too shitty for this shit’
so they take a baseball bat
and make a few essential modifications
last time users

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022

simple things

something that holds
and something that’s held
are united in a slow spin
our eyes say we’ll never let go

something that whispers
and something that’s whispered to
are united in a slow dance
our feet say we’ll never walk away

something that loves
and something that’s loved on
are united in a slow reveal
our hearts say we’ll never hide amour

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022

TATI’s & TONY’s DEAD POET TOUR // The Parrots by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson

Somewhere, somewhen I’ve seen,
But where or when I’ll never know,
Parrots of shrilly green
With crests of shriller scarlet flying
Out of black cedars as the sun was dying
Against cold peaks of snow.

From what forgotten life
Of other worlds I cannot tell
Flashes that screeching strife;
Yet the shrill colour and shrill crying
Sing through my blood and set my heart replying
And jangling like a bell.

by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON (1878-1962)
Public Domain Poetry