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

men are from mars, women are from peni—

he blabbed something like
her hair had phallic nature
in broken english
and boy was she offended!
she just had epilation

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022

heartwood

bark on the old tree
i would become an artist
just to draw this bark
one day i will be a tree
one day i will feel better

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2023

GUEST POST // sustenance by Tremaine L. Loadholt

miss cooking for him
and on most days, for her, too
I cook anyway
energy needs assistance
I thrive on this love

by TREMAINE L. LOADHOLT
© All rights reserved 2022

cold comfort

no one wants to die
no one wants to say goodbye
no one wants to cry
void their headstone of the lie
that there is a by the by

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022