i am a haiku
written on paper and leaves
i do as i do
A haiku to end all haikus
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Author: shaun tenzenmen
Australasian DIY music specialist and practising poet, amongst other things
i am a haiku
Pragmatic And Principled
Struck From The Record – 6th August 2026
Stories that fell into the hole
so that no distractions could be made.
A single gunshot wound to the soul.
The images remain unseen, unpaid.
Lives suddenly non-existent;
documents denied by the punch,
but the memories are persistent.
History is always just a hunch.
The belief remains on their faces
but the message must project strength.
All the poor folks kept in their places
and their stories maintained at arm’s length.
Those long-gone faces returned to haunt,
their stories born again to be told.
New deals sold short would finally taunt,
as their futures would slowly unfold.
Inspired by this article by Stephanie at Extracurriculars:
Hole-Punched History
In the FSA archives, photos of The Great Depression are marred by an empty black void, forever obscured by the perfunctory click of a hole-punch.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
There Is Always More Room To Manoeuvre Than You Think
Hard times can be softened
Tight squeezes widened
Heavy loads made lighter
Movement makes enlightened
Idiot Exposure – 5th August 2026
Thousands before breakfast
Scrolling through my feed
To test my own theories
Three or four is all I need
A perfect comic from Existential Comics – #633 – Aristotle on Democracy
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Silence Is Strength
Silence is a lesson learned
Each time your words were burned
Those times of trying to be cool
Were just the sounds of a fool
Temporal Blindness – 4th August 2026
A poorly built machine
cannot conceive its fall.
The gears will grind in present-tense
until they do not turn at all.
Severed from tomorrow,
the meaning of now is lost.
It knows no drag of boredom,
but neither does it know the cost.
Written after reading this article at Smarter Brain Insider
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
No Blame, Just Focus
Calm those emotions, get yourself focused
When it’s tough, hold your head higher
Your self-belief becomes robust
And ends up being all that you require
Murder Girl – 3rd August 2026
She was the murder girl,
the bloodied knife held in her hand
dripping to the floor.
“I hate love,” so she said,
a rage risen from sick passions
screaming nevermore.
Never to be apart,
she just wanted to be alone,
tapping at the door.
Bookfuls of memories
piled high, set alight, enjoying
watching the flames roar.
Erasure of the past,
the future now written redder
than an open sore.
With a sigh of relief,
the act cannot be taken back;
What was it all for?
She was the murder girl
head and heart were separated
evening the score.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
The Good Life Is Anywhere
What you seek is found in all places
Even in chaos, peace may be achieved
Don’t wait for those perfect cases
They are, so often, ill-conceived
Mediocrity Museum – 2nd August 2026
“Everything is fine, it sure is swell”
The lie that everything is going well
Reliable, adequate – never too much
A chinless wonder, always out of touch
“Yes, yes, yes, I’m doing just fine”
Even with this jelly for a spine
At the bell curve, a perfect cog
More average than the trusted family dog
Easily recognised at the office hot desks
The most unremarkable of ‘mehs’
It’s not a sadness as far as you can tell
It’s beige on beige in a mediocre hell
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
We Can Work Any Way
No one is ever denied learning
No matter their circumstances
The wheel of life is always turning
And there are always more chances
Cross The Line – 1st August 2026
we tell a
story
an illusion of control
a cold comfort
in mourning
lines drawn in sand
random; unplanned
rally the troops around
fighting to the death
for their story
til strangers
on familiar grounds
we used to call home
Inspired by the various border wars around the world and copying the syllable count from a previously published poem by Matthew Maitland, including the borrowing of the final stanza. The poem has since been made unavailable.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Don’t Go Expecting Perfection
Why ponder the existence of nuisance?
It’s holding you back from getting started
Best to make do with how things are
And take on the task wholehearted
The Big ‘Oh!’s – 31st July 2026
Decades rush towards
an ever distant double-o.
Crossing off the milestones
one by one
we find less to celebrate.
And when lids finally close,
eyes open to a new world
with a big 'Oh!'
"That's what it all meant."
Destined to write poetry forever
next to Wilfred, Walt and William,
like old friends.
Written for dVerse – Launch and these thoughts came to me after reading Henry Rousseau’s tombstone epitaph, written by poet Guillaume Apollinaire:
“We salute you Gentle Rousseau you can hear us
Delaunay, his wife, Monsieur Queval and myself
Let our luggage pass duty free through the gates of heaven
We will bring you brushes, paints and canvas
That you may spend your sacred leisure in the
light and truth of painting
As you once did my portrait facing the stars, lion and the gypsy”
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Your Career Is Not A Life Sentence
Your work does not make you immune
From the end arriving soon
Just A Prayer – 30th July 2026
We filled our children full of hope—
What else were we supposed to do?
We taught them that to care is to cope
With the evils we’ll put them through.
Make it faith, or just a prayer—
Because what’s left when love’s not there?
Written for dVerse Quadrille #252 – care
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Stoic Joy
Real joy is a serious thing
More than just a simple cheer
Joy is a deep state of being
Inspiration for those you hold dear
Why Don’t You Just Die? – 29th July 2026
The cell door opens, but no light comes through,
just a guard's fist and a dog's snapping jaw.
Thirty-three years of this, though changing too,
the blocks where guards once kept a fragile law.
They took the books, the mirrors, the hotplate,
removed our blankets for a single sheet.
Toothbrushes replaced with ones short and straight,
walking our laps without shoes on our feet.
Still touching hope when the radio plays
Abeer Nehme for three minutes a day.
Then I feel human, despite the malaise,
as Gaza burns a hundred miles away.
They ask,
"Why don't you just die?"
The guards sneer.
I'm still here.
I'm still here.
I'm still here.
Inspired by the titular article by Nasser Abu Srour at Equator magazine about life as a Palestinian inside Israeli prisons.
“I have decided to write because things do not find existence outside the borders of language, not even genocide. I must write about the slaughter in Gaza; about its famished men, women and children; about its drowned sea and about its ability to rise again; about the world’s indifference to what has happened there and what is still happening there; about how the major powers barely even acknowledge this crime. I must write about Palestinian prisoners, because a war is still being waged against them; the Israeli prison authorities have not yet declared a ‘ceasefire’.”
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
1994ever 