brain cancer

i shall not be a burden
i shall not forget to pray
i shall be an inspiration
i shall die in the right way

for those that plead the blood
do nothing but think they’re helping
i metastasise in compliance
in deference to the eyes that will

i shall not be a burden
i shall not say god is cruel
i shall be a demonstration
i shall die in the right way

for those that invoke the name
do nothing but think they’re helping
i catastrophise in silence
in deference to the eyes that won’t

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

TATI’s & TONY’s DEAD POET TOUR // Hypocrisy by Samuel Butler

Hypocrisy will serve as well
To propagate a church, as zeal;
As persecution and promotion
Do equally advance devotion:
So round white stones will serve, they say,
As well as eggs to make hens lay.

by SAMUEL BUTLER (1613-1680)
Public Domain Poetry

ampersand

i have gnawed on misery
thrown peace of mind to the hounds
auditioned for dread shadows &
spun despair into crowns

i’ve swung on rusty wolfsangel
’til twisted tongue tasted sense
depending not on fogyish gods
only upon blood & instinct

you failed me &
they failed you &
the gravity of truth will
bring it all crashing down

i will fall as though i meant it &
much prefer running blind
i’d sooner hie than fulgurate
in the dimming of your minds &

i’d sooner tear all your throats out
to the last tooth & breath
i have gnawed on misery
it’s now your turn… or fucking death

you failed me &
they failed you &
the gravity of truth will
bring us all crashing down

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

it should be a song

how much do you really know
is it enough to get by in life
is time the la peau de chagrin
upon which you can make your mark

they say this is the way

can a shrine replace the shrunken heart
how heavy is your dedication
do you wish to join the holy bores
or master self emdr

they say this is the way
it’s your choice to go or stay

have you never seen a kisser
kill off his darlings out of spite
is god the trauma in religion
are you the hearth that warms the home

it’s your choice to go or stay
tomorrow begins today

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

the death of ignorance (ecstatic symmetry)

dancing in the ruins of the dead divines
i smelled the earth after the first rain
no more crackle of grass in a lake like glass
near ashimmer with new possibilities

and i lumbered through pain
to free me from the chains

stomping on a skull in its ruined crown
i heard the sound of its gnashing teeth
a lesser antilles of emptied homilies
near ashameless with inert fragilities

and i forged through pain
to free me from the chains

flaming through the deep of waters parted
i roared the defiance of an open tomb
saved two of each kind of all souls to find
near asundered with reassembled symmetries

and i frolicked through pain
to free me from the chains

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023