Category Archives: TONY’S POEMS

edges first

every light restored
every line repaired
the names are piling up
none will be forgotten

from ukraine to minnesota
we the people rising up
be the leftover puzzle piece
fascists don’t know what to do with

i guarantee your safety
said the spider to the fly
but as more rockets fill the sky
the more each bullet tells the lie

no one has ever owed us heaven
but we’ve the right to take home back
be the leftover puzzle piece
fascists don’t know what to do with

voters dying in minnesota
another grim winter in ukraine
more genocide for real estate
to sate the bloodlust of billionaires

but every light will be restored
& every home will be defended
be the leftover puzzle piece
fascists don’t know what to do with

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2026

field & sky (second look)

those ravens, they tell me to get happy or else
but an empty smile is all they’ll get from me

they cannot possibly see
these hellish thorns inside of me
(scraping me raw)
my tired hollow bones
inside a mess of straw & meat

it’s so hard to be alive
so much easier to be dead
but neither thing seems to like me
look, i’m still here

scarecrow in a grain fed wind
tossed by amber waves
coasting in a lonely life
there’s no way out

those vultures, how can they understand
they say if i’m not happy then to get lost
don’t they realise i already am

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2009

field & sky

bewildered scarecrow
he must want to cry
in a faded golden field
beneath an auburn sun
wilted scarecrow
she must wonder why
in a hazy neon field
beneath a winter moon

looking for the answer
sweltering sky
mindfill of shadow
a mind full of shadow
ever mindful of shadow

bewildered scarecrow
she must want to sigh
in a jaded golden field
beneath a forlorn sun
jilted scarecrow
he must thunder why
in a crazy neon field
beneath a splinter moon

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2009

white man (go ooga booga)

you keep hunting brown people
how does that make you feel
are you feeling big enough yet
did you get those extra inches you needed

this caveman mentality of yours
it makes you more tribal than them
why fear those who bleed out like you
& why hide your proud face behind that mask

a clear & present danger
but not them, it’s entirely you
& something has to change

now you’re moving on to the woke
on to the alphabetic people
the different, blamed & broken
the compassionate who use their words & hearts

this gunman mentality of yours
it makes you more brutal than them
& now you’ve moved on to ice fucking bitches
don’t you see, to the face equals fascism

something has to change
but not them for you
it’s you, little man, & only you

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2026

a joke is born

more bad poetry
& scribbles in the margins
ready the tissues
cue the gothic orchestra
sackcloth, keening & ashes

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2025