bodhidharma stares at the wall
time ferments, goes sour like milk
it’s another air-raid warning
people go down to the shelter
people stare at a shabby wall
people drink up soured time
karma, you are a fucking bitch
by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2023
Why were you born when the snow was falling?
You should have come to the cuckoo’s calling,
Or when grapes are green in the cluster,
Or, at least, when lithe swallows muster
For their far off flying
From summer dying.
Why did you die when the lambs were cropping?
You should have died at the apples’ dropping,
When the grasshopper comes to trouble,
And the wheat-fields are sodden stubble,
And all winds go sighing
For sweet things dying.
by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI (1830-1894)
Public Domain Poetry
Once upon a time, my belly was made of cookie dough. I don’t know how or why it happened. Or even when. One moment I was crushing whole anvils with mere stomach crunches, and the next I was resisting the urge to bake and eat myself.
It’s thanks to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that my prayers were heard, and that there were suddenly peanuts and raisins in my belly! I was able to pick these out and be satiated without giving in to the horrifying temptation of chewing on my own flesh. Who chews flat dough without raisins anyway? Nobody but godless heathens, that’s who!
All this to say that this is why I believe in miracles. A real life one happened to me that day and I’ll be eternally grateful for it. I mean, what would have happened if I’d eaten my own belly? I would have had no belly left to… fill my belly. And then where would I have been? Damn. Such a scary thought!
And then they invented chocolate…
by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023
three girlfriends chatting in a mall café
sip coffee, pick at cake with small forks
first girl says that she slept fully clothed
but now she sleeps in her pajamas
second girl says she sleeps in her best lingerie
the set she was keeping for a ‘special case’
and the third one says that she sleeps naked
so rescuers will pay attention and save her first
and they giggle, and they go on to discuss
which lipstick shades are trendy this spring
meanwhile the tired rescuers go home, in silence
today they were saving human lives
by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2023
unbolt me 