Tag Archives: Broken relationship

soldat (a final kiss)

you squeeze the hand of fate
knuckles white in the skull of night
time to choose between fight or kite
will we ever feel ready today

the price of going away
won’t be as high as if you stayed
how on god’s weaned earth has it come to this

another plated community
can you smell the sulphur in the air
mind the inevitable siren blare
more bodies filling moats of fear

the price of going away
won’t be as high as if you stayed
but first i must tell what you mean to me

let’s never forget, woman of my dreams
as i trace your shoulders, broad & free
would you flex those biceps, strong for me
then crushing thighs & disarming sighs

the price of going away
won’t be as high as if you stayed
i’ll miss you but we can no longer believe

the eastern border has disgorged
war, the insatiable hurricane
it swirls & pukes our discarded aims
bulimic in its vile intentions

the price of going away
won’t be as high as if you stayed
& fate always seems to begin like this

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

the zenith of lilith

you placed your foot upon my shadow
resolutely stopped me leaving
so i’m asking why you won’t let me kiss you

every time you petal your thighs
all the angels commit suicide
a field of red puff shudderings
as far as the eye can see

you placed your foot upon my shadow
resolutely stopped me leaving
so i’m asking why you won’t let me know you

and whenever you peddle your lies
all the demons almost believe you
but i didn’t make it rain this time
so you cannot blame me

you placed your foot upon my shadow
resolutely stopped me breathing
so step off, bitch

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022

GUEST POST // Ten Things I Want to Forget by Daniel Serazzi

A calming voice which calls to me through the fog
a hand on my back telling me it will be alright
the warmth of a body as I shiver beneath the sheets
and the smiles, dear God, let me forget the smiles

and the pleasure of listening to her day
and tucking her into bed when she was sick
her tears of terrors past revisited again
most of all, I beg, let me forget

the soft sighs, the feeling
when flesh meets flesh
in a lover’s embrace
the glint of satisfaction
and laughter at the end
please let me forget

by DANIEL SERAZZI
© All rights reserved 2020

never wake

it feels like i’m falling away
like you don’t want me to care
then tell me, why am i here
tell me why i’m anywhere

all that i’ve held onto
i guess it doesn’t mean a damn
fain just let me disappear

the nothing i had, you burned it all
so at least let me be warmed a little while
gift me a last unbeholden smile
then tell me why, why won’t i die

all that i’ve clung onto
i guess it isn’t worth a damn
fain just let me disappear

it feels like you don’t want me to feel
i’m the face you’ve unseen behind the door
don’t tell me to dry my tears
don’t tell me anything at all

everything you said
was all i ever knew
everywhere i trod
was to keep pace with you
everything i felt
now everything imbued
i’ve never needed you more
to enslave myself to you

you’re the stone that weighs within me
beneath this binding arc of decay
lo, i am death, lo, i am sleep

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2018