desolation

i wish you were here
sunny cheeked & fond embrace
i wish you were whole
happy, loved & full of years
alert to now’s potential

all eyes turn away
scared of soaking up my tears
adding to my years

all souls melt away
scared of adding to their years
my desolation

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024

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