GUEST POST // one flower left by Cassy Single

bombs fly & sirens sound
they think they scare us
buildings fall & fires burn
they think they’ve beaten us

propaganda, lies spread
like a game of whispers
they think they speak truth
no

their bombs are nothing
for every building they destroy
we build two more
the real truth

no matter what they try to take
we will never surrender our spirit
we will stand together
no matter what

as long as one flower remains
ukraine will live on

by CASSY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

lucy in the sky with rhinestones

rough diamonds that they are
with facets not yet shining
still spilling clumsy sun puppies
for easily amused yuppies

who are we to assign value
where detritus has accrued

wrap ’em all up in newspaper
alongside kale sandwiches
staled by yesterday’s news
stained with tomorrow’s clues

who are you to assign value
where truth’s bones have accrued

in seven days they’ll be polished
by bacon grease & oily lies
fakely shining like no tomorrow
like sun pups dead to further sorrow

who am i to assign value
where death & taxes have accrued

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024

TATI’s & TONY’s DEAD POET TOUR // A Kiss. by Robert Herrick

What is a kiss? Why this, as some approve:
The sure, sweet cement, glue, and lime of love.

by ROBERT HERRICK (1591-1674)
Public Domain Poetry

two years, eleven months, seventeen days

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

employee of the month

the snail said sorry for not inviting you in
that it was better to talk outside
so you stacked your shoe atop the other shoe
on the stoop for ants, to go inside

gosh, such nice weather, no cloud in the sky
robins sang lustily in their trees
but you were annoyed, asked the snail why
you couldn’t go in out of the breeze

the snail winced, said they woke up real early
that their guest room was rather a mess
mould on the ceilings was making them surly
& so too the slime on their flower dress

shrugging, you decided to just do your job
handed the snail an eviction slip
who can reason with an inveterate slob
who pretends to have a tricky hip

gosh, such nice weather, no cloud in the sky
robins sang lustily under the sun
you sat on the shell, loosened your bow tie
dreamt of that bonus for a job well done

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2024