stillbirth

when stars tore themselves from the sky
impregnated earth unto ruin
a city groaned in labour of blooms
orcs then stormed her depleted womb

& the bodies they left behind
of these there were far too many
yes, i remember bucha
but you still call it zachistka

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2026

a collapsed star

i was the sun made incarnate
& it was there that i did opine
pearls dripping with red wine
wisdom for the ages
but do you remember now
how you’d demanded this of me
if i was to earn your love
then i would first need to burn

the day you took my hand
entangled it in your bracken blest
i knew i wanted forever like this

when i was klept in awe of you
when sang you into my clenched fist
when the deafness of your devotion
enkindled my blindness
each bluff was rendered null & void
& every dot became a star
then from between your thighs
an akeldama enflamed the earth

the day you stole this land
entangled me in your bracken blest
i knew i needed forever like this

but then you spurned me
forsook the lifeblood of us
it had taken two to tango
& three to dare enshroud
four became a muffled roar
five fingers pressed to make a fist
of shared remonstrations

the day you withdrew my hand
untangled it from your bracken blest
i knew forever would end like this

so i guttered & then i waned
darkness fell across the earth

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2025

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