Celsius 233 – 4th May 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen

We, the living knowledge, remember it –
difficult ideas, things of beauty – struggle was
the gift given up voluntarily, like a
candy comforter, where rotten teeth bring pleasure.
We build new campfires with old tales to listen to
and think on the past – it was a pleasure to burn.

Written for dVerse – golden shovel and, once again, utilising Punam’s dVerse prompt, which asked us to use opening lines from books as closing lines to poems. This one is “It was a pleasure to burn,” from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Could this then be considered a golden triangle?

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

What’s Truly Impressive

The gossip and notoriety of the rich and famous
Certainly reveals some sort of impression
Perhaps it impresses the ignoramus
Overpowered by their own obsession

22 thoughts on “Celsius 233 – 4th May 2026”

  1. Interesting selection in which to base your golden shovel. It is definitely a two for one in prompts. A golden triangle? perhaps….it can be whatever you want it to be…

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    2. I found it an interesting selection as it is relevant in today’s world. Censorship and distorted reality seems to be everywhere. We need to contemplate the past to understand where we are headed.

      Much to ponder….

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  3. I’ve read your post three times….much to think about here. “We, the living knowledge, remember it” is striking to me, especially in today’s political climate. We are the containers of history….we can attest to it after being in it. The inhabitants of history inevitably die and then the stories and evidence of it that are passed on to the next generations, via a museum or oral history or photo albums or artifacts becomes our view. And how horiffic when individuals or a “movement” seek to change the “truth”. Deny what was seen and heard by some still living. Or rewrite history by erasing it, or telling lies so many times that repetition seems to become and “alternative truth”. We recently saw the 2025 documentary The Librarians. I highly recommend it. It documents the ban the books movement that is happening across the country. From the perspective of the librarians.

    Thank you for this post….obviously really has me thinking.

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  4. I agree with Liliian, lots of ideas to unwrap in this poem, also I loved the idea of a new form of poetry the golden triangle. You made it fit so well both the last words and the sum of the words at the end.Moreover, there’s nothing as satisfying as an ‘ol fashioned fire and letting it burn 🔥

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  5. I never read a “banned” book ( or burned one) but I did watch a supposedly inflammatory film that you had to request the university library to view, Leni Riefenstahl’s “Triumph of the Will”. Today, there are far more lies floating round with free access and everybody in separate bubbles – so no debate. Perhaps we all need to get round a campfire…

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    2. Never read these Andrew?

      The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

      The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

      To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

      *1984* by George Orwell

      Animal Farm by George Orwell

      Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

      Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

      Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

      Ulysses by James Joyce

      Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence

      Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

      The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

      Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

      *Catch-22* by Joseph Heller

      Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

      I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

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      1. Oh no, I have read slmost all of those, I meant I have never been told I couldn’t read a book and accepted it – we don’t go in for book banning much here although Lady Chatterley was, but not by the time I read it. We just watched Cacth 22 directed by George Clooney. I don’t think Slaughterhouse 5 has been dramatised but Kurt Voonnegut is one of my favourite authors.

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  6. We can learn a lot from history but some of us don’t and so we repeat the “mistakes” of the past. Thanks for trying out the shovel form and incorporating the last line. Always good to experiment with forms.

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  8. Oh dear! You keep amazing me, Shaun. This little verse packs so much. I love the opening line as well as the line Mish quoted. So much to think, so much to delve into. I also love the idea of golden triangle. Thanks, Shaun.🙏🏼

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