balbal (the deflowered stone)

the dawning of solace
it feels like a pauper’s dream
adrift atween the peaks of myth
adrift atween

& baba yaga looks upon them
jawline set against the sky
cliché & lies brand her the monster
cliché & lies

lost to the claggy mountains
sundered kurgan & knelled tree
old memories traced to stone
& moss her fertile crown

fumbled by affrighted hands
her former name lays in ruin
cook & eat them bantling heads
cook & eat them

how did it all go to pieces
baba embraces the silent scream
she cannot be peculiar plain
she cannot be

lost to the claggy mountains
sundered kurgan & knelled tree
old memories traced to stone
& moss her fertile crown

balbal

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024

lucifear

should a morning star
make apology for its name

should a morning star
decry its elusive nature

some biological species
prefer spotlights on the scaffolding
over that soft spacious light
pouring from the dawning sky

lucifear

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2024

vista obscura

why are they vanishing?
to where are they going?
amid yews and larches
squeezing out wet moss
the foxes looking on
are wondering too
beady eyes and pointy noses
sniffing out of dense fog
following faintest trails
before they too disappear
and only a silver cobweb
left shivering on its twigs

Fox Volant

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

GUEST POST // Running on the spot by Topolinopoet

And that’s it
Time now to fold up the earth
And put it away
Those marvellous things you’ve seen
And heard today
machines and exo-build
Infra-plus H
Have gone
If only we could breathe under water

Tremendous mysteries
Of thousands and tens of thousands
And multimillion tears
Folded
All the creatures and the people
Those Long dead
and others
Are of no matter
Believe me

And tomorrow
Forget about the world
folded in on itself
We are concerned only with ourselves
The dying

by TOPOLINOPOET
© All rights reserved 2023

finger food

the sign said ‘beware of alligators’
and ‘do not feed the wildlife’
but i believe in making your own luck
so into the pit i threw my wife

only the best cuts
juicy thighs and butts

greens, vinegar, salt and pepper
the saucepan boiled, the knives sharpened
then i cracked an egg and added rice
to “din dins!” cry the alligator harkened

only the best cuts
tongue kebabs and guts

i draped the table with a festive cloth
and located grandma’s silver cutlery
added napkins, flowers, ambient light
for the alligator to dine in luxury

only the best cuts
and freedom for my nuts

finger food

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023