don’t cry
we’ve a full life, don’t we
with full bellies
& you are here by my side
with love aplenty to fill our sail
own nothing & be happy
is what they’re bound to say
yet we’re happy anyway
are we not
you are mine & i am yours
too many fish in this world
are fighting to be upstream
near the lighthouse seen
no such thing as water in nets
only good days & some regrets
so, let’s be mindful, love
time is a loose spool
& the river winds on
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2025
i will always love you
mother, who carried me
it’s been a year since you’ve gone
i feel your smile lingering on
& i still don’t know why
you won’t let me lay down & cry
i miss you more now, it’s true
& still don’t know what i’m to do
guess i could pass your kindness on
instead of waiting for death erelong
for as long as i’ve left to live
i guess i’ll learn to let it be
‘don’t go near the frangipani tree’
this is what you would say to me
then i‘d try to be your good boy
won’t you let me cry now please
i never did learn to see you true
never did wonder if you felt rue
a lifetime of days before i was born
like petals fallen in the dawn
it feels like i hardly knew you
now i’m here too late… & waiting
& yet i will always love you
mother, who carried me
i miss you more each passing day
& now i find there’s less to say
with this vast space between us
i hope i was your good boy
‘don’t go near the frangipani tree’
this is what you would say to me
i don’t think your boy can smile any more
won’t somebody let me cry now please
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2025
what happens there could happen here
clouds cover the sun at any time
gravity throw caution to the air
wind touch all the memorial chimes
losing all hope should be a crime
an offence to cry into one’s beer
a withered heart doesn’t cost a dime
either take your seat or pass the chair
step up now & shrug off your fear
you’re a human, not a ball of slime
walk on two legs & see how you fare
a perfectly plump man in his prime
by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024
fie, oh fie for shame
god neglects to dry the tears
of fae, fie for shame
fain would fae grow tall
with all that dotage entail
when time doth reap all
the envigored life assail
turneth youth to rufous grail
fie, oh fie for shame
that void would swallow all tears
of fae, fie we fall
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024
i cleave to myself, o’erwhelmed
on a stuttered trail of dreams
holding this space ‘tween the firs
’til in snowfall i dissolve
fallen to the flurry of time
often have i bethought myself
of the needle wreath she placed there
(’twas as fine a crown as any)
she told me she loved me for the last time
& i’ve waited since for renewal
for the gladdening of another spring
the older i get, the younger i feel
& predictably, the less i know
tho’ i am sad, i’m very much alive
hoar frost my heart & beard
& strangely featherlight this weight of years
no longer will i trace my beginnings
nor do i care to know my end
hereon this wintry canvas
i’ll remember her to aught that hear
& bethink the ones left behind
then in silence wish that all be well
i am ready to move on
this my bearing, for better or ill
‘neath the greylag’s flurry for more time
within the great white yawn ‘tween wooded tines
a world sadly devoid of her charms
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024
unbolt me 