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One Pulse: Cradle 2 Grave
Once upon a time, two self-proclaimed writers decided to have a poetry battle. What do you think remained when the smoke cleared? No, not innocent victims but a strange boy and girl, the Grim Reaper, a handful of poems with survivor's guilt, and a book called One Cradle 2 Grave, a bizarre rumination on life, love, and death. With pictures! It's brought to you by Tetiana Aleksina and Tony Single, the same perverted minds behind the popular poetry/prose site Unbolt Me.
- GenresPoetry
39 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 10, 2016
13 people want to read
About the author
Tetiana Aleksina
3 books151 followersHmmm... What do you want to know about me? My bio? OK!
My bio is laid inside my writings... or is lied. I'm not too sure. Yes, guys, English isn't my native language, but I have the impudence to write in English anyway.
So I'm an amateur writer. Surrealism, absurdism, horror, fantasy and poems. You're welcome! I'm ready for your reprimands and devastating criticism. Let's go! Fire!
Um... yep. Last but not least, I also use foul language. You may occasionally stumble over something that looks like 'fuck', so be careful and watch your step!
Enjoy reading!
My bio is laid inside my writings... or is lied. I'm not too sure. Yes, guys, English isn't my native language, but I have the impudence to write in English anyway.
So I'm an amateur writer. Surrealism, absurdism, horror, fantasy and poems. You're welcome! I'm ready for your reprimands and devastating criticism. Let's go! Fire!
Um... yep. Last but not least, I also use foul language. You may occasionally stumble over something that looks like 'fuck', so be careful and watch your step!
Enjoy reading!
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 14, 2017
**The book was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.**
Generally speaking, I like poetry. Even moody, tragic poetry. What I found here was a bit too depressive for my taste and I didn't get anything out of it. Poems were written pretty good, it was the content I was having problems with, so maybe it's just me. I'm sure this work will find it's reader, but I'm sad to say it's not me.
Over and out
P.S.: Illustrations were pretty cool, I liked them more than poems for sure.
Generally speaking, I like poetry. Even moody, tragic poetry. What I found here was a bit too depressive for my taste and I didn't get anything out of it. Poems were written pretty good, it was the content I was having problems with, so maybe it's just me. I'm sure this work will find it's reader, but I'm sad to say it's not me.
Over and out
P.S.: Illustrations were pretty cool, I liked them more than poems for sure.
July 8, 2017
Nope, poetry is still not for me. I've tried it just now and I really tried to like it, but no. Not my thing, sorry.
I did like the pictures in this book. I think Tetiana and Tony should write a comic book or a graphic novel.
And I did like the writing style, there were maybe 2 poems I did like. But poetry just isn't my thing, so maybe I'm not the best reviewer for this book.
If you do like poems you could try this one, the poems are about love, life and (as you can see on the cover) death.
I did like the pictures in this book. I think Tetiana and Tony should write a comic book or a graphic novel.
And I did like the writing style, there were maybe 2 poems I did like. But poetry just isn't my thing, so maybe I'm not the best reviewer for this book.
If you do like poems you could try this one, the poems are about love, life and (as you can see on the cover) death.
February 11, 2017
A poetic dialogue on love and death will whimsical, yet macabre, illustrations. Mostly these are poems of self-reflection, sometimes with a Gothic or dark twist. I particularly liked the dialogue aspect. For example, Tetiana declares that light reaches her core through open wounds, "I'm a filament." To which Tony responds, with a poem about crossing the road to test a hypothesis, to test faith, and says "time to change the bulb." I'm glad I read this interesting little collection of poetry.
May 25, 2017
*** Possible Spoilers ***
-- Review at request of the author --
This is a book of poetry and I have to confess that my knowledge of poetry is nil. In general it’s something I stay far away from so my ability to review this book is particularly limited. That said I’ll touch upon a few things that I enjoyed and some that I didn’t.
First, full disclosure: When I was in high school and university I wrote a LOT of poetry and, over time, I came to understand just how easy it was for me to write some really bad poetry that fosters the illusion of being deep and insightful when, in fact, it was merely pretentious self-indulgence. Once I figured that out I decided that for me, poetry was best left to other people.
So I’m rating this book as a three because I don’t have a clue how to analyze it. It may be brilliant and it may be garbage. I figure it’s probably in between so a three makes sense.
The blurb suggests that this is a poetry battle on themes of life, love and death. I’m not too keen on the death part. I’ve come to that stage in life where Death keeps his spare scythe in my broom closet so this is a theme that’s becoming a little too real with every passing day. Still, for those still sufficiently young to regard the subject strictly in the abstract, I think they might enjoy the poetry.
My favourite poem in the collection was Lines. It is doggerel plain and simple and doggerel is something to which I can relate. Sometimes it has meaning and sometimes not so much; but it is usually irreverent and lively. True, in this case the poet seems to allude to some dark feelings but I can ignore that. There are two, four-line stanzas with a nice rhythm. That’s enough.
I’m not good with meanings but I rather like the sound of poetry and I read these poems with that in mind. As a result, a poem like Phronesis was enjoyable but slightly missed the mark. The last line is ‘Look up! Swallow keys…’ Both receive one beat so there are two half beats followed by a triplet and every time I read it I found myself reading ‘Lock up! And swallow keys…’ The two half beats followed by the triplet may add to the dramatic impact – I don’t know about that - but I don’t like it. For me the rhythm becomes too choppy.
I quite enjoyed Headlanded but once again, there was a break in the rhythm that I found disconcerting. When I read the line, ‘She forgets own name’, I think I automatically inserted the word ‘her’ before ‘own’. For me, the extra syllable smoothes the rhythm and without it the line is too rough. But that’s just me. Other readers may quite like it and it should be noted that my ear for rhythm is probably archaic.
Succumbed was a poem I didn’t like because the images seemed contrived. ‘Vermicelli red’, ‘charnel frame’ – is the poet suggesting that this is the scene of a homicide? If so then maybe it works but frankly I didn’t receive that overall impression.
Zion’s lullaby I found much too choppy for my taste.
I did appreciate some self-deprecating humour in ‘gustave doré’s divine comedy’. Also this poem had a really nice cadence. Culling was another poem I quite enjoyed. It had a nice brave tone to it.
In general, I think this book is worth a look by those readers who are sufficiently young to ‘get’ modern poetry. It may not be quite my thing, but I’m still pretty much back at Robert Service and Edgar Allen Poe so my taste is far from representative. I’m cannot claim to fully understand the work – or even come close to understanding it for that matter; but I think the authors have provided something pleasant to read on a rainy afternoon. Also I really enjoyed the drawings and I think other people will like them as well.
-- Review at request of the author --
This is a book of poetry and I have to confess that my knowledge of poetry is nil. In general it’s something I stay far away from so my ability to review this book is particularly limited. That said I’ll touch upon a few things that I enjoyed and some that I didn’t.
First, full disclosure: When I was in high school and university I wrote a LOT of poetry and, over time, I came to understand just how easy it was for me to write some really bad poetry that fosters the illusion of being deep and insightful when, in fact, it was merely pretentious self-indulgence. Once I figured that out I decided that for me, poetry was best left to other people.
So I’m rating this book as a three because I don’t have a clue how to analyze it. It may be brilliant and it may be garbage. I figure it’s probably in between so a three makes sense.
The blurb suggests that this is a poetry battle on themes of life, love and death. I’m not too keen on the death part. I’ve come to that stage in life where Death keeps his spare scythe in my broom closet so this is a theme that’s becoming a little too real with every passing day. Still, for those still sufficiently young to regard the subject strictly in the abstract, I think they might enjoy the poetry.
My favourite poem in the collection was Lines. It is doggerel plain and simple and doggerel is something to which I can relate. Sometimes it has meaning and sometimes not so much; but it is usually irreverent and lively. True, in this case the poet seems to allude to some dark feelings but I can ignore that. There are two, four-line stanzas with a nice rhythm. That’s enough.
I’m not good with meanings but I rather like the sound of poetry and I read these poems with that in mind. As a result, a poem like Phronesis was enjoyable but slightly missed the mark. The last line is ‘Look up! Swallow keys…’ Both receive one beat so there are two half beats followed by a triplet and every time I read it I found myself reading ‘Lock up! And swallow keys…’ The two half beats followed by the triplet may add to the dramatic impact – I don’t know about that - but I don’t like it. For me the rhythm becomes too choppy.
I quite enjoyed Headlanded but once again, there was a break in the rhythm that I found disconcerting. When I read the line, ‘She forgets own name’, I think I automatically inserted the word ‘her’ before ‘own’. For me, the extra syllable smoothes the rhythm and without it the line is too rough. But that’s just me. Other readers may quite like it and it should be noted that my ear for rhythm is probably archaic.
Succumbed was a poem I didn’t like because the images seemed contrived. ‘Vermicelli red’, ‘charnel frame’ – is the poet suggesting that this is the scene of a homicide? If so then maybe it works but frankly I didn’t receive that overall impression.
Zion’s lullaby I found much too choppy for my taste.
I did appreciate some self-deprecating humour in ‘gustave doré’s divine comedy’. Also this poem had a really nice cadence. Culling was another poem I quite enjoyed. It had a nice brave tone to it.
In general, I think this book is worth a look by those readers who are sufficiently young to ‘get’ modern poetry. It may not be quite my thing, but I’m still pretty much back at Robert Service and Edgar Allen Poe so my taste is far from representative. I’m cannot claim to fully understand the work – or even come close to understanding it for that matter; but I think the authors have provided something pleasant to read on a rainy afternoon. Also I really enjoyed the drawings and I think other people will like them as well.
January 1, 2018
I was contacted by the two authors of this short, unusual collection in an email that immediately caught my eye. I don’t normally review poetry because I think, generally speaking, poems are too personal to be “reviewed” the way novels or non-fiction are. You can’t evaluate them purely on artistic structural merits, because the reason poetry resonates usually has very little to do with those elements. While it’s true that other genres also “click” with readers for intangible reasons, that intangibility always seems somehow more essential in poetry/prose – at least for me. At the same time, to write a review and recommend/not recommend something on such a purely subjective criterion as personal resonance seems to me to be inherently problematic. That’s because the resonance depends not only on personal preferences and experiences, but on mood and mindset – at the time of reading. I can read a poem that moves me to tears today, then re-read it next year and think it’s drivel. Poetry evokes feelings, and feelings change. Hence my usual avoidance of reviews…
But something about the email I received from Tati and Tony caught my eye, and I agreed. And I’m glad I did. While poetry is never going to be my first love, reading-wise, I do enjoy clever turns of phrase and evocative imagery in any context. I also enjoy reading by people who love words and like to play with them. All of those things are found in this delightful, dark, quirky collection. People mock by saying “I laughed, I cried…” but I actually did run that gamut of emotions with these writings. There is playful fun here, followed by desperation, fear, pain, longing, joy, and snarky commentary in equal measure. That’s an impressive range in a book that only weighs in at 38 pages… And as if that wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, let me mention the absolutely charmingly dark illustrations scattered throughout – they are a fun, evocative (and occasionally provocative) addition to the words that really tied things together visually and linguistically.
I’d like to particularly call out a few of the pieces that I especially enjoyed: Culling, Doll, Not Today, Melancholics Anonymous, Lines, and P.S. I Love You. True, there were several that either left me confused or with a slight eye roll – but that happens with every collection, I think, from prose to short stories. Still, on the whole, I found this to be an enjoyable excursion into the heads of two very talented and creative individuals. If you want to learn more about them, or sample their work before committing to the book, check out their very original (and charmingly cool) website Unbolt.Me.
But something about the email I received from Tati and Tony caught my eye, and I agreed. And I’m glad I did. While poetry is never going to be my first love, reading-wise, I do enjoy clever turns of phrase and evocative imagery in any context. I also enjoy reading by people who love words and like to play with them. All of those things are found in this delightful, dark, quirky collection. People mock by saying “I laughed, I cried…” but I actually did run that gamut of emotions with these writings. There is playful fun here, followed by desperation, fear, pain, longing, joy, and snarky commentary in equal measure. That’s an impressive range in a book that only weighs in at 38 pages… And as if that wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, let me mention the absolutely charmingly dark illustrations scattered throughout – they are a fun, evocative (and occasionally provocative) addition to the words that really tied things together visually and linguistically.
I’d like to particularly call out a few of the pieces that I especially enjoyed: Culling, Doll, Not Today, Melancholics Anonymous, Lines, and P.S. I Love You. True, there were several that either left me confused or with a slight eye roll – but that happens with every collection, I think, from prose to short stories. Still, on the whole, I found this to be an enjoyable excursion into the heads of two very talented and creative individuals. If you want to learn more about them, or sample their work before committing to the book, check out their very original (and charmingly cool) website Unbolt.Me.
January 5, 2018
As always, do not let my star count override your judgement of content. More on the stars, counting, and my rating challenges later.
The authors have provided a series of poems, alternating in who writes what. Thus the thirty-two pieces here represent sixteen each. Differences in style and formatting will clue you in, even without the authorship notes at the end of each offering.
There are a number of drawings, which add interest to, and complement, the poetry.
Let me give you a feel for the work. In Shaman we find this: “A shaman has three hands.” If that doesn’t peak your curiosity, there’s more to this short poem.
The alternate poems are different. For instance, in Zion Lullaby (lowercase in the text) we find this: “now here’s a little ditty /to remind me of a city, on a hill/ that awaits me, beckons me /i’ll drown me not in pity /it’s there in the nitty gritty, in my hell....” These poems tend to be more lyrical, whereas the alternate ones are a bit more about pushing an experience.
In the middle of the poem Doll we find this: “My turquoise eyes faded. /My ruby-red mouth can’t smile. /My light brown hair unbraided /and I went out of style.” If you’ve ever regretted consigning an old toy to the dustbin, this poem will touch you.
From the alternate author we have gfe, which begins thus: “if i stay will /you fist my heart /or will you spoon it....”
For a brush with mortality, turn to Not Today.
Hopefully that will give you a feel for this work.
Back to the star count boilerplate. My personal guidelines, when doing any review, are as follows: five stars means, roughly equal to best in genre. Rarely given. Four stars means, extremely good. Three stars means, definitely recommendable. I am a tough reviewer. I try hard to be consistent. This is an interesting work, and three stars from this curmudgeon is a clear recommendation. Your personal rating may be higher.
The authors have provided a series of poems, alternating in who writes what. Thus the thirty-two pieces here represent sixteen each. Differences in style and formatting will clue you in, even without the authorship notes at the end of each offering.
There are a number of drawings, which add interest to, and complement, the poetry.
Let me give you a feel for the work. In Shaman we find this: “A shaman has three hands.” If that doesn’t peak your curiosity, there’s more to this short poem.
The alternate poems are different. For instance, in Zion Lullaby (lowercase in the text) we find this: “now here’s a little ditty /to remind me of a city, on a hill/ that awaits me, beckons me /i’ll drown me not in pity /it’s there in the nitty gritty, in my hell....” These poems tend to be more lyrical, whereas the alternate ones are a bit more about pushing an experience.
In the middle of the poem Doll we find this: “My turquoise eyes faded. /My ruby-red mouth can’t smile. /My light brown hair unbraided /and I went out of style.” If you’ve ever regretted consigning an old toy to the dustbin, this poem will touch you.
From the alternate author we have gfe, which begins thus: “if i stay will /you fist my heart /or will you spoon it....”
For a brush with mortality, turn to Not Today.
Hopefully that will give you a feel for this work.
Back to the star count boilerplate. My personal guidelines, when doing any review, are as follows: five stars means, roughly equal to best in genre. Rarely given. Four stars means, extremely good. Three stars means, definitely recommendable. I am a tough reviewer. I try hard to be consistent. This is an interesting work, and three stars from this curmudgeon is a clear recommendation. Your personal rating may be higher.
August 22, 2017
Read this review and more on my blog at [Roxie Writes].
'One Pulse: Cradle 2 Grave' by Tetiana Aleksina & Tony Single
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/3
Finished on August 19, 2017
GIVEN A FREE COPY IN EXCHANGE FOR HONEST REVIEW
$1.99 in Kindle | $4.50 in Paperback
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Once upon a time, two self-proclaimed writers decided to have a poetry battle. What do you think remained when the smoke cleared? No, not innocent victims but a strange boy and girl, the Grim Reaper, a handful of poems with survivor's guilt, and a book called One Pulse: Cradle 2 Grave, a bizarre rumination on life, love, and death. With pictures! It's brought to you by Tetiana Aleksina and Tony Single, the same perverted minds behind the popular poetry/prose site Unbolt Me. (Are you sure you still want to buy this?)
MY REVIEW:
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is an illustrated collection of poetry written in an alternating format by Aleksina and Single.
I definitely do not consider myself qualified to judge anyone's poetry, as poetry is extremely subjective, way more so than prose, I believe. Personally, these poems were not for me. Aleksina's poems were more my speed, but not by much. The illustrations are very cute, though!
I like the concept of two poets dueling, and the topics written about in this book are intriguing. Perhaps these poems will be more your style than mine.
'One Pulse: Cradle 2 Grave' by Tetiana Aleksina & Tony Single
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/3
Finished on August 19, 2017
GIVEN A FREE COPY IN EXCHANGE FOR HONEST REVIEW
$1.99 in Kindle | $4.50 in Paperback
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Once upon a time, two self-proclaimed writers decided to have a poetry battle. What do you think remained when the smoke cleared? No, not innocent victims but a strange boy and girl, the Grim Reaper, a handful of poems with survivor's guilt, and a book called One Pulse: Cradle 2 Grave, a bizarre rumination on life, love, and death. With pictures! It's brought to you by Tetiana Aleksina and Tony Single, the same perverted minds behind the popular poetry/prose site Unbolt Me. (Are you sure you still want to buy this?)
MY REVIEW:
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is an illustrated collection of poetry written in an alternating format by Aleksina and Single.
I definitely do not consider myself qualified to judge anyone's poetry, as poetry is extremely subjective, way more so than prose, I believe. Personally, these poems were not for me. Aleksina's poems were more my speed, but not by much. The illustrations are very cute, though!
I like the concept of two poets dueling, and the topics written about in this book are intriguing. Perhaps these poems will be more your style than mine.
June 9, 2017
Strong and emotional
Some people won't get the message of these poems. However, if you do, you are in for a real treat.
Some people won't get the message of these poems. However, if you do, you are in for a real treat.
January 20, 2018
First off, the illustrations in here are amazing and I want to send some of them as postcards to my friends. Second off, I enjoyed this collection of poems. One of the lines I really enjoyed was from "Headlanded": "She collects emotions/like friedge magnets..." I don't know. It just really connected with me. Anyway. I liked it.
March 18, 2017
I simply can't make myself enjoy the book. The writing is intelligent; it flows smoothly and there are no grammatical or formatting issues. I simply did not enjoy the poems. That, in itself, is no reflection upon the authors' writing skills. It is just my personal preference. **I received this book in exchange for an honest review.**
November 7, 2016
Life, Love and death!
Once upon a time, two self-proclaimed writers decided to have a poetry battle. What do you think remained when the smoke cleared? No, not innocent victims but a strange boy and girl, the Grim Reaper, a handful of poems with survivor's guilt, and a book called One Pulse: Cradle 2 Grave, a bizarre rumination on life, love, and death. With pictures! It's brought to you by Tetiana Aleksina and Tony Single, the same perverted minds behind the popular poetry/prose site Unbolt Me.
What did I like? I have never gotten into poetry so this was a new experience for me and to be very honest I had to read it twice to really appreciate it. It is a very interesting take on life, love and death with very good graphic art.
What are you going to like? Well first if you’re into poetry you won't have to read it twice! It is well written and certainly will give you a diverse approach on those three topics, I loved the graphic art and the depiction of the grim reaper brought each of them to life. I have to agree with one of the other reviews it is a refreshing take!
I received this from the author for an honest review.
Once upon a time, two self-proclaimed writers decided to have a poetry battle. What do you think remained when the smoke cleared? No, not innocent victims but a strange boy and girl, the Grim Reaper, a handful of poems with survivor's guilt, and a book called One Pulse: Cradle 2 Grave, a bizarre rumination on life, love, and death. With pictures! It's brought to you by Tetiana Aleksina and Tony Single, the same perverted minds behind the popular poetry/prose site Unbolt Me.
What did I like? I have never gotten into poetry so this was a new experience for me and to be very honest I had to read it twice to really appreciate it. It is a very interesting take on life, love and death with very good graphic art.
What are you going to like? Well first if you’re into poetry you won't have to read it twice! It is well written and certainly will give you a diverse approach on those three topics, I loved the graphic art and the depiction of the grim reaper brought each of them to life. I have to agree with one of the other reviews it is a refreshing take!
I received this from the author for an honest review.
December 16, 2016
This is something that normally would not fall into this category of book reviews I read yet I tried it. the short book is nothing that can carry any label, much less one, as it is collection of poems that seem to be okay being in a class by themselves. There seems to be a range of emotions, from bitterness with a taste of regret, a sense of ominous threat, self-doubt with a fair amount of self-awareness, all the way to heart-felt sorrow as well as an ominous fate. I personally like ‘not today’ and ‘you don’t say my name’ as my personal favorites yet there are plenty of others that are good enough to be bulletin board material.
December 14, 2016
This is a short book of a battle of poetry. I am not a big poetry person but this was a little dark.. there were some interesting spots in this.. I actually enjoyed this book and for 2 bucks it isn't badly priced. The 2 authors are amazing.. their writing makes you feel as if you are watching them and you can feel their comradely was amusing. I am glad I got to review it
November 13, 2016
I very seldom give such a low rating. It wasn't because it was bad. For me I just didn't understand it. I didn't care for some of the language used.
I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews