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

noel

there’s less ahead than what came before
but when a man meets the mountain
he asks why it keeps standing there
& thinks not to count his blessings

the man would sooner meet a well
whereupon he’d drink deep down
plumbing the depths of misery
beneath the mistletoe abandoned

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2025

ткаля

pavuk, pavuk
wee christmas spider
says, ‘kill me not’
for above my candle
she weaves the world
protects me in my sleep

warm air rotating
i’m as old as my tongue now
& a wee bit older than my teeth
no masters, kings nor gods
everything’s a dream now
she keeps me safe in my sleep

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2025

good days ahead

don’t cry
we’ve a full life, don’t we
with full bellies
& you are here by my side
with love aplenty to fill our sail

own nothing & be happy
is what they’re bound to say
yet we’re happy anyway
are we not
you are mine & i am yours

too many fish in this world
are fighting to be upstream
near the lighthouse seen
no such thing as water in nets
only good days & some regrets

so, let’s be mindful, love
time is a loose spool
& the river winds on

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2025