Tag Archives: Emotional abuse

cold (boy in the grave)

what is boy to do when
the judge will not advocate
& silence is the crime

his death smacks heavenly sweet
honeyed thus for peace of mind
as the rest of life goes to pot
boy raises a poisoned chalice &
pleads for more hungarian wine

the bad man lashed & beat on him
enriched while boy had less to eat
a legal ward with no standing
but life, they say, can find a way
(tho’ god’s acre be down the street)

what is boy to do when
the judge does prevaricate
& silence is the crime

tho’ blood be often redder
bruises sting profoundly true
how could boy bear any more when
none would pluck this weight away
no reckoning hawk from the blue

his death shall taste bittersweet
at least it’s something left to eat
a boy full bellied on life now
sighs to emptied then lays he down
(for worms to feast in ‘neath the ground)

what is boy to do when
the judge chose to abdicate
& silence was the crime

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2025

relentless

a darkness was waiting in the wings
for the final curtain call on my veins
and even though i’d stepped away
gaslight still thrubbed a spell in my brain
i was skipping across the icy stones
upending my way toward a new home
determined to outrun the snowstorm
the hollow blast of their winter gloam

maybe i’m broken
but now i know i’m free
just a short run and i’ll be there
white lies the wolf at my throat

i was stepping outside the story cage
the one they’d fashioned, devoid of heat
that was meant to contain and subdue me
an austere tale more terror than sweet
the world broken down on every side
i upended way beyond their reach
never again would the cage define me
my soul to keep from dogma’s teach

maybe i’m foreswooned
but for now i know i am free
just a short run and i’ll be there
their lies the wolf at my throat

when they gorged on the fumes of their dead sun
i knew i could never be one of their pack
when they piously bayed against the moon
as it dared to haunt them from out of the black
so now i’m appending beyond their beseech
loping for ice that burns a ruby glow
stepping and running before i expire
to the inevitable ebb of fate’s flow

maybe i’m foredoomed
for now i know for sure i am free
just a short run and i’ll be somewhere
your lies the wolf at my throat

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2020

circle without end

i am shape, formerly human
a frosting sphere beneath heaven’s blear
insensate in the wake of chased dreams
waking to be, to be held by you

but you don’t care for all that i’ve shared
(in truth) do you
taking only what i can ill afford to give
yea, lay me down, do trollen sigh
into the bracement of dip and rime

hoar am i as the sea
you always said something about completing me
professed to crest open roil with gladness
but have you ever

i’m the end you always supposed me to be
and you’ll always be the end point of me
we reek of codependency
yea, lay me down, do trollen cry
cover thon over these lovers’ crimes

tease me with your lips, plunder me
sweet talk me again and again
squeeze me with your hips, squander me
junk me gently with the pain

yea, lay me down, do trollen fly
decrease the contours of my decline
was there ever a beginning to all of this
you’ll always be the end point of me
we reek of codependency

hoar am i as the sea
something about you completing me
and cresting the open roil with gladness
but have you ever

yea, lay me down, do trollen hie
bury me gone, away from all time
you won’t care for all that i’ve shared
(in truth) will you
taking only what i can ill afford to give

i am shape, formerly human
a thing to be abraded with use
an asset, a liability
you’ll always get to choose

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2019

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU CITRUS // Six Word Story #63

I’m used to crying in darkness.

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2016

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU CITRUS // Six Word Story #62

Eli, lama sabachthani?! Cue mommy issues…

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2016