empty thus

bodhidharma stares at the wall
time ferments, goes sour like milk
it’s another air-raid warning

people go down to the shelter
people stare at a shabby wall
people drink up soured time

karma, you are a fucking bitch

Fade to Black

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2023

aeternum vale

should you ever leave
all air will void from this room
all days will follow
& i won’t know what to be
this hell on earth behind thee

if i hold this space
& leave the light on for you
fain would you come home

should you not return
with hope or fire’s foreboding
into pinpricked night
would i not slingshot myself
to find you & bring you home

if i never pray
i might never say goodbye
fain never lose you

should i lose my way
ghost into pain with a smile
then remember me
bid thee well a dying sun
circle an emergent moon

if i plead the void
to swallow the void in me
fain would i be free

Aeternum Vale

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

one year, six days

three girlfriends chatting in a mall café
sip coffee, pick at cake with small forks
first girl says that she slept fully clothed
but now she sleeps in her pajamas
second girl says she sleeps in her best lingerie
the set she was keeping for a ‘special case’
and the third one says that she sleeps naked
so rescuers will pay attention and save her first
and they giggle, and they go on to discuss
which lipstick shades are trendy this spring

meanwhile the tired rescuers go home, in silence
today they were saving human lives

1 Year 6 Days

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2023