dream caused by the fate of a plate spinning above a selection of stale pistachio baklava with a wasp buzzing around that i told sigmund freud about during our second session

just look at this zeppelin in the sky
it bears the burden of all my dreams
of clouds made from berries and cream
and coffins of cherries jubilee

it wobbles like a huge cosmic jelly
its five points thrumming with juicy flair
sugar patina wickers soft underbelly
its eyes cry diamond daggers for miles

thick nipples drip mint liquor and ganache
its genitals puffed up like salted pastry
the masterpiece of a mad confectioner
until someone pops it like yesterday’s gum!

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

TATI’S TRANSLATIONS // Young Ukrainian Poets: Kateryna Balashova

Tati Translates Kateryna Balashova

Literary classics aren’t always created by the greying elder statesmen and women of the writing world. You know the ones. They’re all wise and wrinkly and impassive, and woe betide the scholar who dares mount an honest critique of their bodies of work.

You see, literary classics are also written by upstart youngsters. These youngsters are full of vitality and creativity. They live fully awake and fully aware during these very difficult times. Nothing escapes their notice and they’re unafraid to share what they really think. They walk among us right now, breathing, smiling and crying, loving and hating, experiencing the full range of their humanity without apology.

This series presents names that you won’t find in textbooks or on Wikipedia, but these are the very youngsters who are creating modern Ukrainian literature right now. Trust us, you will want to check them out because it’s only a matter of time before they become household names. When we go back to these writers in two hundred years, we have no doubt that they’ll be mentioned in the same breath as luminaries such as Taras Shevchenko and Lesya Ukrainka.

noon

sometimes i like finding myself in a room
with no clocks
observing how i’m growing human slowly
in an expanded space with no rhythm
feeling my hands immersed in their work
scenting my very presence
and my slender stance, like a dial’s needle
no one has seen that, but
when sunlight is pouring down my collar
i lay my shadow on the floor
and so align my next step

полудень

часом люблю опинитися в кімнаті
без годинників
і дивитися як я поволі олюднююся
в розширеному просторі без ритму
чуючи власні руки занурені в працю
відчуваючи запах своєї присутності
й тонкість постави як стрілку компаса
ніхто цього не побачить але
коли сонце ллється за комір
я вкладаю свою тінь на підлогу
і так визначаю наступний крок

Original poem by KATERYNA BALASHOVA
Translation by TETIANA ALEKSINA

© All rights reserved 2023

SPAM® Sushi #26

Wan na be smarter?
— RV Hydraulic Leveling Jacks Repair

Yes. Just reading this means our IQ’s gon na drop a hundred points.
— Tati & Tony (Two Trepidatious Wordsmiths Who Wonder if Hydraulic Leveling Jacks Can Lift Failing IQs)

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

Gogga Blend

It began with a tragedy. I truly thought I’d not survive it but I did. Have you ever found a spider in your morning coffee? Or, more precisely, the last spoon of coffee that you scratched from the tin. That’s what happened to me.

First, there’s the awful realisation that it’s not coffee heaped up on your spoon. No, it’s a very angry huntsman. Normally they’re pretty chill but when they’ve been hacked at with a blunt metal implement over and over… well, they’re no longer willing to let bygones be bygones.

Second is the even more awful realisation that there’s no more coffee left. Perhaps I wouldn’t mind so much if the huntsman had escaped when I cracked open the lid. But now, with what little remains of the coffee thoroughly mixed with spider parts and limbs… well, I’m really not prepared to use it, and not even if it was the last spoon of coffee in the world.

So, anyway, the spider skittered out onto my hand with its last remaining legs and hissed at me. I swear, that’s what it did! Are huntsman spiders even capable of this? I don’t know, but if pain could give it wings then I would have much preferred this. Poor little guy! Still, I was pretty pissed off too. So, I thought a little bit and hissed back. The spider stared at me with its last remaining eye, and I could’ve sworn there was something akin to surprise in its look.

I was about to say something when it held out its front fang for me to shake. I didn’t quite know what else to do, so I held out my other hand and extended my forefinger. We shook, and with that the spider hopped off and limped away.

And then I got dressed and went to the coffee shop.

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

empty thus

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