Recall – 21st October 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen

Dear me. Yes, you!

Recall that time you made a fool of yourself?
Your so-called friends, laughing and pointing

You grew stronger with every struggle
And maybe now, you don’t even recall
You are still here and where are they now?

A cherita letter shared with What’s Going On?

Today I’m feeling:

Good again, though I woke up during the night and can start to feel the rising anxiety (good anxiety) of returning to work and being in the classroom again. What with all the disruption from the flooding at the end of last semester, it seems like such a long time since shepherding my students towards enlightenment!

Today I’m grateful for:

All the free time that I have had to read, write and think. Particularly to work hard and focus on writing poetry.

I know that this free time is coming to an end and I will have to concentrate on getting things straight with all my lessons for the next few weeks.

I feel confident that I can do it again, just as I have done before.

The best thing about today was:

Stretching out my shoulders with a little bit of dead hanging. Today wasn’t filled with anything particularly exciting otherwise.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

I succumbed to an afternoon nap again but felt pretty good as Amy put Tigger next to me and he settled down there, chatting away when I turned over.

I’m also feeling a little dizzy from the reduction in sertraline and also not taking Tramadol for two or three days. I don’t feel particularly bothered by it yet but will try and push through it.

I took this picture because the old boy was looking a little tired, unable to open his eyes in the sunlight this morning.

13 thoughts on “Recall – 21st October 2024”

  2. I sure resonate with this! The ones who laugh and point usually end up being not NEARLY as interesting as the ones they ridicule. So glad you linked this poem!

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    1. I had one idea in mind when I wrote ‘…where are they now?’ but the more I look at that line it has to be considered that those people are (or were) obviously somewhere too but at least, for me, they were somewhere else. And perhaps they would write the same poem about someone else.

      I’m glad you like the poem and thanks for your kind comment. 🙏

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  4. I see this is a letter to self, and a very good one for me, too. And I suppose it’s a lesson that can be shared with children as well, but I like it better as a poet note to the poet/reader!

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    1. Yes, the lesson can be shared with children, it’s a little like the ugly duckling story. It can be difficult for pubescent children to process ideas like this though.
      At least, when I think of myself at that time, if my mother tried to explain something like this I most likely would have ignored the advice, whilst secretly storing in my mind and realising the truth of it much later!

      Thanks for reading and commenting. 🙏

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    1. I have a lot confidence now to deliberately make a fool of myself, especially with my students, to teach them exactly this and how to laugh at yourself. But for me, as a teen and young adult, I wasn’t quite there yet.

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