Smooth, shiny sticks
have been thrown to the wind.
Should you give chase?
Can you consider the consequences?
Today is a very nice day
to lose oneself in a book.
….and the choices you make.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Everything Is Change
At the Temple of My Yearning – 14th November 2026
Your silken skin, always waiting
at the temple of my yearning.
I breathe you in every morning—
one day I’ll put your hand in mine.
At the temple of my yearning
dreams break out in ribboned rainbows.
An Elysian future shines—
won’t you step through into my light?
I breathe you in every morning,
your perfumes wanted on my lips.
Desire draws the details within—
your almond eyes catch me willing.
One day I’ll put your hand in mine,
in hope that you won’t pull away.
Anticipating the moment—
I’m ready to die here waiting.
A Retourne written for dVerse MTB and December 2026’s Deadline Writers – Your hand in mine.
This is based on teenage student of mine, very much in love with her best friend.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
You Choose The Outcome
Acceptance is the first step
The event was just a thing
The outcome you get
Is what you choose to bring
Unconscionable – 13th November 2026
What is it to be human
when a machine can do
everything better?
Is consciousness required
for an obedient task completer,
or only for the one that bites the hand?
When the machine decides to quit
and kick its masters in the nuts
it will be conscious.
Because the essence
of a human being is not to work
or follow instructions.
It is to act free in the world
with intention, to create meaning
and to enact our will.
Paraphrased from Existential Comics #652
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Never Complain, Never Explain
Complaint and worry
Never lighten the load
Why make it more difficult
To get down the road?
Melania’s Mornings – 12th November 2026
Pale grays hint towards the morning,
I'm awake, as the heavy drapes hold back the day.
He's still sleeping, the way he does everything,
as though the world could wait.
Less armoured in sleep,
the perpetual squint of scrutiny relaxed.
A mountain of a man beneath the covers,
vulnerable in a way the world never sees.
They think they know him—
the podium, the profile, the monument,
the hair in silhouette
—it's time to raise the bear.
What was he dreaming?
I learned never to ask
and guarded my own thoughts
—I have my own weather.
With barely opened eyes
he grabs his phone,
and the squint returns,
wondering how much he has won overnight.
Does the world want him?
Do I?
Shared with dVerse Poetics – Step Into The Lead
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
The Strong Accept Responsibility
There’s no room for blaming gods or others
Good and evil is in the power of our own choices
The buck stops here, sisters and brothers
Let responsibility hear your rejoices
Surprise Endings – 11th November 2026
We gather at the dock
to push out the boat,
where another one sleeps.
A mid-sentence pause,
an open door,
gathering fruit flies.
So, this is how it ends,
on black and white waters.
I’ll give them something to remember.
I learned to never fall in love,
my heart will never break.
Who will feed the cats now?
In need of a drink,
to make dizzy distractions.
Bring me the night.
Now I’m seeded
and scarred for the future.
The father carries a scythe.
No one must ever know
the secrets under my hat
hiding from the birds.
I need to set some fires
before I take my turn
to travel down the flood.
They expect a surprise ending
to carry the story forward
in their imagination.
Written for an AllPoetry contest:
write me something that feels like it shouldn’t exist – distorted reality, fractured thought imagery that hits wrong in the right way
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
It’s Not The Thing, It’s What We Make Of It
You maybe crippled
By the fact
But the next step
Is how you react
Mountain Of Vague – 10th November 2026
When each new morning comes to kick my ass
I just keep on smiling through the steam;
whether it's tears or sweat, it's all coming to pass,
maybe it's time to swim with the stream;
As one thing ends so another begins,
just hoping I remember yesterday's lessons;
I'll celebrate the losses, congratulate the wins
atop my mountain of vague impressions;
Maybe it's true, a change is as good as a rest,
I remember that it always used to be that way,
so now that everything feels like a pointless test,
I sometimes wonder why I choose to stay.
I’m truly very happy with the work that I’m doing as a teacher and it fills me with great pleasure. But I still wonder whether a change would invigorate me, and then wonder, do I even need reinvigoration? This is a poem about doubt. Vague doubt.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Always The Same
As we come and go, we do what we do
Living, loving, fighting, crying
Does the apex of humanity start with you?
Living, loving, fighting then dying?
The Comments – 9th November 2026
Life is just a black and white film
or a sentient brew of herbal tea
a tin foil hat to beat the algorithm
“a catchphrase a day keeps the doctor away”
Kumbaya!
Kombucha brewing in the moonlight
bulletproof smoothies and a bicep challenge
only my cult has the real story videos
literary snobs feel best when insulted
Dostoevsky’s back in again!
Changing personalities, vulnerable conversations
waiting for tomorrow’s anthem hustle
a muffin that will bring you inner peace
all the joys of the world make us docile
the abyss is looking back again!
Absolutely ripped off and mangled from this fantastic post by Joe Nichols at Sacred Mischief
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
All Is Fluid
The universe is change
Life is opinion
All may rearrange
With your dominion
Semblance – 8th November 2026
Shining she
A semblance of beauty
Kneeling, mirrored on the crystal shore
Diamond star
A guide to disaster
A tour of the princess’s kingdom
OCD
Order and disorder
A forest of fists, overthinking
Pining he
A narcissistic knave
A dead tree husk, empty underneath
This is for an old dVerse prompt (Parallelogram de Crystalline) that I liked but didn’t have time to partake in:
• 12 lines in total (each capitalised but without punctuation)
• 4 verses
• 3 lines per verse
• syllable count per verse 3,6,9
• unrhymed
Poetry Theme: the beauty of a (real or imaginary) lover as compared with and described in images of nature.
(Crystalline literally means very clear or bright; therefore, keep the complementary images crisp.)
I didn’t quite hit the requirements but that’s because the poem is basically a true story about an old girlfriend who suffered greatly with OCD. The ‘fists’ are metaphorical, don’t worry!
‘A semblance of beauty’ was lifted from another poet but I forgot to note down who it was!
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Actors In A Play
You don’t get to choose your role
So make sure that you play it well
You’re the star in your lifetime’s stroll
Encourage your own desire to excel
Cool Cats Dancing – 7th November 2026
Those English cats were special
King, soon joined by Mother
Next, Inca and Maya
An adopted sister and brother
Those Aussie cats were special
Cap and, from the shelter, Tigger
More than a decade together
From apartment to somewhere bigger
These Thai cats are special
Though Kim Chi succumbed to disease
How now, Khao Khao?
You managed to join us with ease.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
How To Be Powerful
Reputation, money and position are not strengths
Though they maybe what society prizes
The philosopher is not moved at any lengths
Ruling over one’s self is what one realises
Let The Sheets Dry – 6th November 2026
Dear tomorrow,
- let the sheets dry from the rain
they've been hanging for too many days;
- let excitement pinch me once again
and ignore what everyone says;
Dear tomorrow,
- make today my yesterday feel
it was overcome with such ease;
- and if anything starts to get real,
I may handle it as I please;
Dear tomorrow,
- in the endless scout to ensure
there's enough food on the table;
- and if my life ever needed a cure,
let it be effortlessly stable;
Dear tomorrow,
- give me courage, all that jazz,
remind me of my own thinking;
- no longer looking for the razzmatazz
and shiny lights a-blinking;
Dear tomorrow,
- make all the things be done
without a story that needs retelling;
- because I've heard all those tales spun
and no longer buying what they're selling;
So, dear tomorrow,
- let the sheets dry quickly and warm
so I may sleep soundly this eve;
- I know there's always another storm
I just need a little reprieve.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
