i fain would draw this blue fog
but have only the red ink of shame
it burns through my sullen veins
i fain would deface my skin
but it’s like a brittle parchment
it crumbles ‘neath needle’s acerb touch
i fain would drown them all in bile
but hide behind what they want of me
my head pulses like a tumour
i fain would discard my failed life
but angst has drained resolve from my bones
i wait, days full up with hospital pudding
by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023
i gave myself away
and the more i gave
the less there was of me
i am only finite
i can only feel so much
i kneeled myself to pray
and the more i prayed
the less there was of me
i am only finite
i can only bleed so much
i resigned myself to another day
and the more i cried
the less there was of me
i am only finite
i am only human
by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023
authenticity
gets killed by degree
behind each smile’s treachery
i wish my face wasn’t this
that you would see me
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023
deadwood on a silent shore
the crack of daylight on her face
says maybe she won’t want to die
one day
ever unsure
unable to see tomorrow
yonder rot & spore
& chokehold of black trees
the war in her brain
can anything numb the pain
thunderclouds or amnesty
they say the forecast is up to she
dumbly she hangs ‘tween root & limb
awaiting the rain
ever unsure
the marrow’s in the morrow
this is what they say
but hope is a blithe man’s game
deadwood on a silent shore
she doesn’t know how to be
defiled she hangs lightly
for another day
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023
unbolt me 