Unplug – 24th February 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

When they need your attention to survive

The best thing to do is chaos-post their demise

Meme the truth until their servers crash

Pirate their textbooks and skip all the ads

Everything is an AI scam, so go wreck ’em

Uninstall your life and then forget ’em

I sometimes use AI to post notes for my poetry on Substack. I ask it to give me a Gen Alpha voice. This poem is inspired by the results of one such exercise, enjoying some of the phrases that it came up with.

New Tree Knows – 23rd February 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 4 Comments

it’s my con – fusion
that gets deep under your skin

i’m penetrating



my ghost particles

in trillions, unaffected

they see right through you

Shared with SenHai Saturday #40 image prompt

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Circumstances Have No Care For Our Feelings

What cannot respond to our cries
A rage falling on deaf ears
A situation cannot tell you lies
Unless you choose what one hears

Sumo Haiku – 22nd February 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 3 Comments

let Hakuho Shō 

come and make my baby cry

good health together

In Japan, letting a sumo wrestler make your baby cry is believed to bring good health. Hakuho Shō is a famous sumo wrestler, winning 45 tournaments.

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

What’s Better Left Unsaid

Better to consider before one speaks
Is it opinion or knowledge you spout?
Do you suffer a mouth that leaks?
Perhaps it’s better kept in and not out.

Held Tight – 21st February 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 21 Comments

Shared with dVerse MTB – No Answers

What does the silence want

with the chattering,

when it can’t be turned off?

Silent whispers squeezed in sweaty palms.


Have you ever held a question?


Where does the night go

after waiting so long

for its anticipated arrival?

No respite from the dirtied village dogs.


Has the oak memorised the lightning

bearing the scars, weeping?

The wounds wail as the wind

runs its fingers down its bark.


What name is murmured

on the tip of a sooty tongue?


If my heart were a house,

who keeps opening doors

that were never closed?

The Take Away – 20th February 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 15 Comments

An erasure poem using Maya Stein’s Bless The Stars, shared with What’s Going On – Blessings

crossword cream coffee

sun slips by breezes

on the drive


cheer the age

just before the run

days difficult mixed ache


the night watches

minus time

marks rest


if the stars feel still

stars left blue

over light


music fills this entry

poetry might shape fog

as the stars remember home

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

The Grand Parade of Desire

The dictators harem filled with plotting
Are the pleasures worth all the stressing?
When every desire is ageing and rotting
What were your indulgences addressing?

Staring At The Sea – 18th February 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 7 Comments
credit: Takashi Sakamoto

Shared with Melissa’s FFFC #360 picture prompt

Shifting into sunrise

the rats race behind me

while I wave at the horizon


“Good morning, fresh air”


My good friends, the gulls

hopefully jig,

gold glinting in sharp eyes


The sea laps, the sea laps, the sea laps


As your worlds wander by

wondering how I can be so happy

sitting on a wall, staring at the sea


Head held high,

shifting into sunset

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Prepare For The Storm

The struggle is great, the task divine
So meet the storm with preparations
Within, without, we’re always fine
Because of our solid foundations

Steeped In Shadow – 16th February 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 12 Comments

thrust from the summit

sharp peaks scrape towards the sun

carved statues of light



slumbering valley

steeped in afternoon shadows

reaching for her night

Shared with Senhai Saturday #39 picture prompt

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Don’t Make Things Harder Than They Need To Be

On edge, always prepared to escalate
Righteous indignation is a losing state
Manage your duty until it’s done
There are few battles that must be won

Shadows Hall – 15th February 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 3 Comments

Shared with Sadje’s What Do You See #327 picture prompt

Within a wall
where it shouldn’t be –

at the end
of the hall

What waits beyond its history –
a mystery
of the many wronged?

The morning light
casts shadows long,

that don’t feel right.

The arches set at brighter angles,
that entangles
where memories forget.

An architecture
of concealed trust –

unveiled conjecture;

A debate around congealed dust –

what’s found
beyond
this barricade?