real poets can’t count

is this a haiku
or just another tanka
we’re phoning it in
but no one answers the call
and we’re still unselfaware

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

quinquorgasima

the night fell upon
wakening my pocket god
he saluted you

but you were absent
so i had to pray alone
this late shrove sunday

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

mortality

stare down time’s barrel
breathless pause, the hammer click
bang! fornevermore

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

aeternum vale

should you ever leave
all air will void from this room
all days will follow
& i won’t know what to be
this hell on earth behind thee

if i hold this space
& leave the light on for you
fain would you come home

should you not return
with hope or fire’s foreboding
into pinpricked night
would i not slingshot myself
to find you & bring you home

if i never pray
i might never say goodbye
fain never lose you

should i lose my way
ghost into pain with a smile
then remember me
bid thee well a dying sun
circle an emergent moon

if i plead the void
to swallow the void in me
fain would i be free

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

GUEST POST // Sign of the Times (A Haiku) by Maria Michaela

Neck hurts, aching back
Getting older? Yes, I am
Still, glad for the chance

by MARIA MICHAELA
© All rights reserved 2023