make them fear
i hear you say
but can we not
just let them be
make them hear
everything you say
but can we just let
them pass on by
bring them near
i hear you say
but i’d rather
keep to myself
with a sneer
bring them near
make them hear
make them fear
by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2025
Strip tree bark to breath the rot
reading accumulated fear brew
filter coffee tasting sweeter lot
above tongue that tear through
nail deep on horizon brown red
claw clinging onto narrow faith
i hope my nose sticks out mud
while buried in a shallow grave.
by PAKARCHA VYADHI
© All rights reserved 2025
i don’t wanna agree just to keep the peace
don’t gotta force myself to bend to your crease
it would be better for you to desist & cease
so i’m no longer subject to your caprice
just ‘cos i’m a lady
don’t make you my superhero
just a supervillain
in other words, i would like you to sod off
before this turns into a lifelong stand-off
something ’bout your face really puts me off
like it’s not your face but some creepy knock off
please don’t call me baby
or i’ll paint the goddam walls
with your guts vermillion
i suspect you’re a lizard wearing human skin
lemme press this shotgun ‘neath your weak chin
aerate that area with some ballistic spin
get a three-pointer, dunk your head in a bin
by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024
you can’t seriously believe
that the rabble will become tamer
if you let them rattle the bones
paint their faces with bird droppings
and kill one another out of fear
aren’t we all demons in sunlight
perched on the corpses of angels
aren’t we all angels in shadow
presiding over flesh and bone
you can’t seriously believe
that billionaires are ethical
or in their dreams of conquering mars
when the rabble are crushed by mad cars
and clip one another out of fear
aren’t we all demons in sunlight
perched on the corpses of angels
aren’t we all angels in shadow
feasting on feather, flesh and bone
you can’t seriously believe
that they seriously believe
they’re the villains of their stories
in such apocalyptic dreams
fighting high and low out of fear
aren’t we all demons in sunlight
perched on the corpses of angels
aren’t we all angels in shadow
pricking with pitchforks feather and bone
by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024
We return to the beginning, stripped
of our knowledge and rank, bound in white:
a shroud, a swaddling blanket, a bride’s veil,
a drawer stuffed full of rags and bandages.
Trussed up in white and left naked by fear.
The brutal say I don’t learn anything —
that’s why I no longer seek the brutal
as teachers, their blood my blood, their hiss
and spit so familial. Let gentleness
teach me these most difficult lessons
that I must begin again, without rank
or honor to learn a gentle way.
Or perhaps it is the easiest
of tasks: drop your knowledge, begin again
a blank page awaiting a love song —
by WHITECATGROVE
© All rights reserved 2024
unbolt me 