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
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
the puddle you plapped on through
were once a well e’er tranquil deep
still i spared your feelings sheer
tho’ none allowed me tend my own
were we running out of time
to cultivate me with you
or are you glad i’m gone now
to bare horizons me bestrewed
the inner guts of my skull
once a hill of bones replete
a place you called golgotha
now one through iris shone with hope
i fear we have had our time
to cultivate the me from you
must confess i’m gladness gone
to horizons tilled rain bestrewed
sometimes things don’t work out
once thought it ne’er would for me
& sometimes you have to leave
before the seed can dare to bloom
know there can be no more time
feel the inner guts of my will
gone to build me a new home
to far horizons hum bestrewed
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024
& the hooded skies emptied
o’er another fallen star
it was only love undeclared
it was only consciousness after all
growing up was unavoidable
& i was taught to be unlovely
but not them
they could not have shone brighter
had they been allowed
& a hidden christ could have shown itself
how long had i been walking here
turning white noise into useless words
for all the things that could ne’er be said
for all the eyes i saw that were dead
sleepwalking down paladin lane
where even the hobos had their song
& harmonicas to play it on
just heavenly bodies now
tainted by god’s grey earth
i’d ne’er shine so bright as they
i’d ne’er fall so fine as they
where were you, hidden christ
to save us, misery, one & all
when we found no place at the table
when another epistle went unpenned
when grief was failure to participate
when i lost myself again
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024
yeah, seagal loves putin, besties forever
see them carve it out in a heart on a tree
better still on warm bodies
& i’m sure their mutual wankery
is the one true path to enlightenment
why would they live to serve
when they can shirk all that’s deserved
shitting themselves in a shared hole
of their own making, always taking
we all know how this story goes
putin hates zelenskyy, enemies forever
see him carve it out on a nuclear tease
better still on still bodies
i’m sure his religion of geography
is the one true path to dominance
they both have skin in the game
a bit more so than you & me
yet all we can do is sit & argue
does might make right, peace less so
we all know how this story goes
yeah, trump loves trump, cahoots forever
see him carve it out on democracy
better still on nubile bodies
& i’m sure his lies & weaselry
is the one true path to supremacy
still dodging the arm of law
all we can do is cheer or boo him
& putin plays trump like a fiddle
as both try to outstrongman seagal
we all know how this fucking story goes
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024
unbolt me 