evanescent

a husk sat in dusk
looked for traces of itself
a husk raised its voice
wailed to return to the soul
of you me they she & we

but the ground was wax
& the sky so deaf & bronze
war had melted them

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2025

two years, eleven months, seventeen days

the black stains
of morning coffee
on a white tablecloth

others prefer fortune telling
with coffee grounds
but i believe in vapour
& its aerial butoh dance
above the cup’s abyss

forbearance sucks
& gravitas falls
on the white tablecloth

i see bare, broken twigs
against a blue sky
will this coffee be the only darkness
that fills me today
i take a sip, open my news feed

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2025

snow, blood, shit

better you don’t enter
the unreal forest
better don’t be tempted
with shrieking mavka’s ballads

stop & look around
the boat that carried you here
’tis a moored coffin
‘tween picturesque shores

the winter this year
is temperate
the spirits this winter
are hungry
the bodies cover the trails
the blood covers the bodies
as ai verisimilar
as your best nightmare

better you don’t enter
the unreal forest
better don’t be tempted
with shrieking mavka’s ballads

stop & look around
stop & look around
gaiman is watching you
he’s fucking watching

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2025

desolation

i wish you were here
sunny cheeked & fond embrace
i wish you were whole
happy, loved & full of years
alert to now’s potential

all eyes turn away
scared of soaking up my tears
adding to my years

all souls melt away
scared of adding to their years
my desolation

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024

airdrop for the pious

demon in sunlight
fragments of my low life have
hidden to be seen
in scratchings on the pavement
more picayunes for my purse

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024