The In And Out – 30th May 2026

breathing 

is really more important than the other in-and-outs,

and it’s never consciously thought about
until the final one, in that stark white hospital



room 

where family sits together, in quiet grief.

the empty shell cleaned, now unfurnished of blood,

getting smaller and smaller and that



is 

the way we all go after being, our undoing.

all the stories that made us us, told you what we were,

all connected by these little words



only 

to be forgotten, not amounted to much, there

may be others but just a few who scratch

their name somewhere, to be seen to break through,



born 

under the lights, to brightly shine, made all

fresh and new, furnished again with blood.

a tiny temple, a clean empty shell



with 

first breaths made together, familiar families

sit again in familiar rooms, in familiar places.

going home with more to include, in this



space

where new blossoms bloom, grass grows,

streets lights wander up to the mountain skies

where new stories are born in the twinkle of an eye.

Shared with dVerse MTB: taking a fine line down where I have reused the line ‘breathing room is only born with space’ from my own poem from a couple of days ago, ‘On The Usefulness Of Emptiness’. This line is then used as a word acrostic and each stanza defines (somewhat, in my case) the meaning of the word. The prompt and my write was inspired by Laura Bloomsbury’s poem ‘An unbundling’.

I started writing this thinking about my mother passing away on the other side of the world from me. My cousin was there holding her hand as she took her last struggling breath after a couple of years of suffering with COPD. This then unconsciously took a turn towards the circle of life.


Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Working Hard Or Hardly Working?

Where is all the busyness taking you?
Is it really accomplishing very much?
You read and write, and work all night
Just to remain in place, as such

Three Interests – 29th May 2026

I have three main interests.

Together, they don’t add up to much,

but they keep me busy.


Maybe you’ll never guess what they are

because you don’t know who I am.

A first, somewhat trivial, attempt at an awesoku. Like a Tanka poem, it has a 5,7,5,7,7 structure; however, you count the words in each line, not the syllables. 5 lines with a total of 31 words. The first 3 lines must have a beginning and an end. The last 2 lines don’t have to stand alone; they can be one continuous sentence broken up into 2 lines. This is commonly referred to as a run-on sentence.


Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Work Is Therapy

Work nourishes noble minds
Is your potential being fulfilled?
Self-indulgence often finds
Any motivation is being killed

Let Them – 28th May 2026

Let them find the puddles
you pointed out —
what you call falling,
they call jumping.

Let them fly
to figure out fortunes.

Let them forget my name
and find their own.

Let me still be here
but let me let them go.

Shared with dVerse Poetics – Let them


Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

The First Two Things Before Acting

In a short time, you’ll be nobody and nowhere
What’s the point in getting into a tizzy?
The task at hand, considered with care
Remember your purpose before getting busy

On the Usefulness of Emptiness – 27th May 2026

The abyss is not a grave, but loam,
where clarity grows in silence like a seed.
This soundless soil is your truest home,
and substance springs from this unhurried need.

The hour’s worth is found within its frame;
breathing room is only born with space.
The soul’s deep labour is to bear its name;
emptiness gives meaning to this place.

Inspired by a Substack article at Words of Taoism (link lost)


Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Sweat The Small Stuff

All the small things underfoot
Soon becomes big enough
If you want to learn to run
Better sweat the small stuff

Waiting By The Sea – 26th May 2026



drawn by the ocean’s pendulum
one sea pulls two tides
ginseng from a foreign shore
so two oceans salt the skin


海漂

anchored by the absence

life woven with exotic light
a longitude of belonging
stretched over a starless map


海归

returning on an uncommon tide
new dialects translate as silence
roots return to familiar soil

a suitcase filled with the horizon


同河异流


we are the ocean’s answer to the shore
the dream of return, an anchor

the memory of departure, a ghost
two streams from the same river

Based on some research after reading this article by Jasmine Sun, and learning the Chinese word 海归 (sea turtle) and then its counterpart 海漂 (drifting at sea). In some ways, I am still the drifting sea turtle.
I also translated it into Chinese (below) and then back to English to see if there was any improvement with certain words. It seems to be a reasonable translation, though I have no idea how poetic it might be in Chinese.



被海洋的钟摆牵引
一海牵引两股潮汐
来自异乡的人参
两片海洋浸润肌肤

海漂

被缺席所锚定
生命与异域之光交织
归属的经度
延伸至无星的地图

海归

乘着不寻常的潮水归来
新的方言被解读为沉默
根回归熟悉的土壤
一个装满地平线的行李箱

同河异流

我们是海洋对海岸的回应
回归的梦想,一个锚
离别的记忆,一个幽灵
同一条河流的两条溪流


Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Stop Caring What People Think

We love ourselves above all
But count our own opinions less
Don’t waste time on others’ thoughts
That will stop you in your progress

The Barkeep’s Lament – 25th May 2026

In city lights on borrowed dime,
A job you hate wastes all your time.
You dress the part and ‘network’ well,
In curated tales you choose to tell.

Posing like a cool performer,
Editing with filters warmer,
In shadowed light, on barstool found,
Two nights are yours to fill with sound,

You rate the world in practised prose,
While your debt and doubt quietly grows.
So welcome, friend, to tonight’s shrine.
Now, what’s your poison? I’ve got mine.

Inspired by the writing of C. James Desmond at The Barman Substack


Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Where To Find Joy

Proper human work brings joy
See how far comfort will get you
Idleness will easily destroy
And develop things to upset you

Oh! No! Homo Deus! – 24th May 2026

We stand alone on an empty stage,

with little truth and a lullaby;

Talking to ourselves, negotiating with no one

– the animal without any obligations.

Line 2 is appropriated from a Matthew Maitland poem (link lost) and the rest is paraphrased from Noah Yuval Harari’s Homo Deus


Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Making Your Own Good Fortune

Good impulses and actions
And a well-tuned soul
Bring you satisfactions
And isn’t that the goal?

Listen – 23rd May 2026

Inspired by a quote by Kate Murphy found at Maia’s Tiny Hearts.
I was surprised to find that I hadn’t already written a poem simply titled ‘Listen’

Listen, they said.
(The train pulls out of the old station)

Listen to your heart.
(Blood beats in disappointment)

Your inner voice.
(Whispered lies)


Listen to your guts.
(You found your way here)

They said.


When all I needed to do
was to listen more carefully
to you.


Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Show Me How To Live

A long life made of nothing
Forgetting the way to live
Fill it with a life ot something
Right now – it’s all you get and give!

Tricks Of The Light – 22nd May 2026

The emperor remains magnificently robed;
until on closer inspection,
hems are fraying, and the fabric is thinning.

Stretched at the seams
by the bloated over-indulgence;
reminding himself that he’s always winning.


Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Today Is The Day

Today is the day tomorrow will speak about
Time is here, ticking
Break down all resistance and doubt
Start, and keep it sticking