Month: September 2024

House Of Secrets – 8th September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Cain will never stop killing his brother
There is no path to peace
Perpetually fighting one another
A house of secrets has no keys
Each morning another death repeated
Each night let the tribe increase
The human condition cannot be cheated
Until, in time, the tribe will cease

Inspired by Nick Cave’s explanation of the song Frogs and ‘let the tribe increase’ is taken from The Mob’s album of the same name.

Thinker’s Tableau – 7th September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 16 Comments

An audience quiet
Digests careful words
Rapt in attention
Honesty demands
A thoughtful response
Worthy of the room

To conjure reply
And beg discussion
Once contemplated
Wind blows back and forth
To bend and not break
Careful and controlled

To think and wonder
Share our differences
Arrive at conclusions
Agreed to or not
Left to meditate
Played well for pleasure

Shared with No Theme Thursday (attached picture prompt) and dVerse MTB – tableau
16th Dec 2024 – Shared with Ragtag Daily Prompt – meditate

The Infection – 6th September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Let’s get serious
This is no time to sleep
Now we’re in business
Gulp the air in deep
Let’s get serious
This is no drum circle of friends
Roar out your heart
As if your life depends
Laugh until it hurts
And all that’s broken mends
Let’s get serious

A fold poem variation inspired by the folks I used to see in the park every Saturday morning when I took my son to swimming class. I forget their group’s name but they were essentially a Laughter Club and would stand in a circle and force themselves to laugh loudly. Submitted to dVerse’s Poetics: Just for Laughs prompt.

Spin Sorrow – 5th September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 12 Comments

Spin your sorrow into strength
Weave new words of wisdom
From your free-spun mind

Deny spider thoughts at length
A lost control decision
Loosened the threads that bind

Put back together the unravelled
With stories around the campfire
And a beaten-up guitar

A quadrille (44 words) for dVerse Quadrille #207 – spin and first line inspired and paraphrased from this poem ‘Losing my grip’ by Carol Anne

Thumbing Kerouac – 4th September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 7 Comments

Thumbing Kerouac again with a sigh
Yearning to be back on the road once more
The vines of fear wrap around my thigh
Rooting me here to tap at the door

The flash of sky will release the rain
The vanishing days despoil this trip
Blind to the trickles down the pane
And the candle top’s constant drip

Strong we are in the sun
Knowing one day
the rains will come

Submitted to WDYS #252 (picture prompt above) and Wordle #669 (12 words below)

Look Back And Smile – 3rd September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 12 Comments

One day we’ll look back and smile
Laugh at the silly things we did
We don’t need to do them again
There’s no need to be repeated

A rocking chair on the back porch
One day we’ll look back and smile
A book in hand, a reminder
Of happy days once in a while

Through all trials and tribulations
We found our happiness at last
One day we’ll look back and smile
At the tough times we have passed

We must recall the lessons learned
Before we get old and senile
And the final chapter beckons
One day we’ll look back and smile

Submitted to Weekly Prompts -The One-Day Prompt (5) and inspired by Sadje’s entry ‘Change will happen – one day’ using the quatern form.
17th Dec 2025 – Shared with dVerse Poetics Tuesday – looking back

Across The Room – 2nd September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

It’s understood now
– Standing on the other side
– – Art hung in splendour

Squinting at the past
– Gone with the flow of the tide
– – Returned to sender

Perspective requires
– A distance beyond the known
– – Coughing up sunshine

A new world beckons
– The antithesis of home
– – Seemingly sublime

Caught in the moment
– Reflections in the window
– – As the train pulls in

Clawing the way out
– Of all the worlds goes to show
– – The jewel in the crown

Inspired and paraphrased from this post at Spinning Visions
13th Nov 2024 – Shared with Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – Distance

Fairlight Falls – 1st September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 6 Comments

Fairlight falls down
side-poured through silver
trunks dripping gold

Soft feet crinkle steps
along a path hidden
under the crispy cakes

The third of March,
we two are three,
Mother and son

One foot forward,
a thought not repeated
on this path trodden once

Soft, bright and smooth
hands held in safety;
the comfort of a paw

Knowing no place to go
into the autumn stride
compelled towards the light

My first attempt at a triversen (as discussed at dVerse) using the No Theme Thursday picture attached as a prompt