no one wants to die
no one wants to say goodbye
no one wants to cry
void their headstone of the lie
that there is a by the by
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022
Category Archives: TONY’S POEMS
wakensong
if theirs was the path not followed
then how could we have ever known
of their hopes veiled, atwist in shame
yet now we know
departing eden saved our lives
from the tyrant we thought we knew
meta alpha spitting swords of flame
pious choirs cleaved to the throne
he churned their psalms into a voice of ruin
his shadow sloped through every heartland
so now we know
that whenever he swore to bury us
each variance of will collapsed their brains
they tore themselves on the teeth that hound
we truly blest have truly moved on
presuming to carry gentle our selves
’til we wake to say the soft parts loud
it’s all we know
that if you’re enough then i am too
so will you be my hello for the last time
and tell everyone i love them
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022
Share this:
fade to black
pooch, go away now
i know you crave attention
(cannot feel my arms…)
i’m open to your absence
happy to be anywhere
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022
Share this:
hedgehogs in the fog
blue sky, yellow grain
winter’s leaving ukraine again
a ploughman’s cycle without end
i say life for all & death to kings
god’s got his tombstones all in a row
dominoes waiting for the drop
it’s all i can do not to cry a river
here in the dark breath is adjourned
i’m checking notifications again
you were last seen five hours ago
does god really think no one’s looking
so i’m trying to remember instead
the shape of hope & all that’s to come
& the hedgehogs we saw in kyiv
the warm hearth of your mother’s kitchen
your father’s childhood in chechelovka
our river walks & your brother’s games
the shadow cat i left behind in dnipro
so i’m trying to remember instead
shared sun salutes in an upstairs room
it’s all i can do not to cry a river
do you remember the hedgehogs of kyiv
i wish them well in forever sleep
& stand with ukraine in the fog of war
i’m thinking of you & the shape of hope to come
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022
Share this:
seeds for your pocket
o demon face
may you reach the end of yourself
so that you will know
you will know that no one had to die
your lies have led to a thousand blooms
set alight in the silence
your crimes have made them feel too much
everything then nothing
the bodies you’ve threshed underfoot
are the seeds you’ve sown of your destruction
their scarlet heads now reach and sway
freedom cries scattered to the wind
and the wind remove all trace of you
hie thee into damnable night
your brutal answers went unquestioned
now circling back to haunt you
o barrel chest
may you reach the end of your hollow self
you know that none had to die
you fucking know
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022
unbolt me 