Where Do You Sit In The Evenings? – 19th May 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen

Me:



Tending a small, walled garden

of rich, dark soil.



Knowing each rose by name

along the daily path.



The sun gentle, bees heavy

from bloom to bloom.



Evenings on the stone bench,

light softening.



To visiting friends,

offer freshly fallen pears.



The sweetest fruit, where
walls
keep out the wind.



“This is enough. It is whole.”



Myself:



Sweating on a bare, windy hill

hands raw from digging.



Not foundations, a channel

to the parched valley.



Working alone, 

or in threes



through scentless nights

of turned earth and distant rain.



Sipping from a metallic canteen,

satisfaction: not a harvest for eating.



Blistered palms nod 

horizon-ward



“That way, the water will run.”


I:



Sitting on the wall between

looking both ways.



The garden’s sun, the hill’s first cold drops

of the coming storm.



Not to tend or dig,

but to witness the tension,



the beautiful, 

unbearable pull.



Seeing the full-fruited pear tree,

the first trickle reaching



the cracked valley soil;

joy, a strange alloy.



A leaf in one hand,

a cold, wet stone in the other.



Not deciding,

the bridge between is and ought.



Meaning growing in the space

between wall and wilderness.

Inspired by the article The Good Life Paradox at Philosophy Now. Best viewed on a big screen.

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Learn, Practice, Train

Learning is one aspect
But just words without practice and training
The proof is in the pudding
When the teacher has done explaining

29 thoughts on “Where Do You Sit In The Evenings? – 19th May 2026”

  2. I love how you hold these three selves in balance, the tender gardener, the digger, and the witness on the wall between them. The images are so vivid, such a thoughtful, resonant write.

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  4. I think it was Herclitus who said nothing can be properly joined until it has been fully separated — holding up and wide these three aspects of self, each in sensuous difference — a gorgeously ripe, apt and knowing tryptich. Well done.

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    1. Your contrapuntal poem works very well Andrew. I have tried that before too. This one wasn’t written with the idea to read both across and down though. I will try that again sometime though. They take a lot more thought and time, which is a bit scarce at the moment.

      Thanks Andrew 🙏

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