the black stains
of morning coffee
on a white tablecloth
others prefer fortune telling
with coffee grounds
but i believe in vapour
& its aerial butoh dance
above the cup’s abyss
forbearance sucks
& gravitas falls
on the white tablecloth
i see bare, broken twigs
against a blue sky
will this coffee be the only darkness
that fills me today
i take a sip, open my news feed
by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2025
shadows throw people onto the pavement
to slip away between the cracks & furrows
to an ocean somewhere beneath the city
where sunken bones & dead dreams recriminate
with golden teeth the stonefishes greet them
such disarming smiles before they jab them
& the bubbles of hope swirl to the bottom
to be sucked clean under tectonic & sand
remember me tripping on cobblestone
remember it ripping through skin & bone
falling like alice to the antipodes
to go through that fine gravity filter
one must first relinquish personhood
& reach emersion at the far side of firma
find a meaningful death before one’s birth
in this world the shadows are disappearing
unanchored from the people we have lost
fading away, so happy, oblivious
to all suffering done, never to return
remember me tripping on cobblestone
remember it ripping through skin & bone
falling like alice to the antipodes
by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024
better you don’t enter
the unreal forest
better don’t be tempted
with shrieking mavka’s ballads
stop & look around
the boat that carried you here
’tis a moored coffin
‘tween picturesque shores
the winter this year
is temperate
the spirits this winter
are hungry
the bodies cover the trails
the blood covers the bodies
as ai verisimilar
as your best nightmare
better you don’t enter
the unreal forest
better don’t be tempted
with shrieking mavka’s ballads
stop & look around
stop & look around
gaiman is watching you
he’s fucking watching
by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2025
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
my favourite gift is a closed one
that moment where nothing is known
that calm before an unwrapping storm
in anticipation of what’s to come
my favourite book is a closed one
that moment where nothing happens
that calm before a reading storm
in anticipation of what’s to come
my favourite lips are closed ones
that moment where nothing is said
that calm before a kissing storm
in anticipation of what’s to come
my favourite heart is an open one
so tell me true, are you ready for war
many shall ride the carousel with me
but few shall choose to stand with me
my favourite casket is a closed one
that moment where nothing remains
that calm after the final storm of
memories of all that’s come & gone
by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024
