Author: shaun tenzenmen
Australasian DIY music specialist and practising poet, amongst other things
When news is not information now,
Perfect End – 1st July 2025
A wasted day waiting for perfection.
Staring at the mountains
green and dusty around the edges;
The sun’s rising
obscured by damp and grey defences;
Little illumination
penetrates to bring forth joys;
Has the day already been decided?
Staring at the snow white sheet
waiting for the words;
Imagination lost in the ebb
just beyond the groping enquiries;
Little inspiration
steps out of the dark entrances
looking for a flawless scaffold.
Staring at the flowers
fighting through the weeds,
Stunted by the fading foundations,
nests of decay;
Little seedlings
sent to their surrender
waiting for early birds to start their work.
Staring at the western peaks
green and dusty still,
The sun setting
in a glory elsewhere;
Little perfection
broke through to bring forth joys;
The day went as decided.
I Only Wanna Be With You – 30th June 2025
The images of my mistakes are futile, fruitless words*
Lost in my imaginings of all futures coming true
Falling into emptiness, making everything worse*
No time for others – I only wanna be with you
The angel at my side gives me good advice*
As I was struggling when you came out of the blue
But I refuse to even listen, I just do what I like*
I’m the only one, and I only wanna be with you
All the endless confusion hanging ’round all the time*
Everyone is holding on, we’re all just blowing through
I wanna run away to where all the time is mine*
There’s no other choice – I only wanna be with you
Initially inspired (but not connected to) this post at Spinning Visions, which got me thinking about The Tourists song of the title, as well as the idea of another poem I read today, where they reused lines of a song to form their own work.
The lyrics to that particular Tourists song didn’t inspire me, but I checked out Blind Among The Flowers and so used lines from that instead.*
There is one person who is always there for you, through thick and thin, best to get well acquainted.
Interestingly, I discovered that Blind Among The Flowers is the source of a refrain that often pops up in the playlist of my mind: “Nothing means nothing to me”. That’s been bugging me for years!
Hyde Park – 29th June 2025
It’s damp and dark,
walking here alone,
wandering Hyde Park,
far away from home;
Just wanting a hold,
anything that soothes,
feet freezing cold,
shuffling in wet shoes;
A future unclear,
a past to forget;
ending up right here,
rattled by regret;
Searching for arms
to comfort and explain;
thundering alarms,
continues the rain;
Wished to make a mark
before the end of days;
wandering Hyde Park,
lost in so many ways.
Shared with No Theme Thursday and using the picture above as inspiration, which looks a hell of a lot like Hyde Park in Sydney. The feelings expressed in this poem are not exactly mine, though and reflect recent conversations with teenage students searching for themselves and coming up short.
Grail – 28th June 2025
God gave us the excuse to kill,
where our humanity must prevail
A long time coming, but coming still,
the realisation of the holy grail;
When the blood has dried from our hands
we may wash clean our broken hearts;
When each and every one of us understands
standing together is the sum of our parts.
Somewhat inspired after reading this poem by Sunra Rainz.
Unshakeable Bones – 27th June 2025
A reversed and re-imagined poem based on Under The Hood.
Under The Hood
I can feel it in my bones
Unshakeable but invisible
I try to look inside it
But this time, it’s not divisible
Clouding up the thoughts
Stumbling around my guesses
Impossible to clarify
Mixed within my messes
Can’t be touched upon
Or identified in the grey
It’s on the tip of my tongue
But what it is, I cannot say
Say cannot. Is it but? (I what?)
Tongue my tip – it’s on!
Identified grey. In or
upon touched, be
messes mixed within.
Clarify to impossible
guesses around my stumbling
The thoughts up-clouding
divisible? Not this time, but it’s
inside it – look to try, I,
invisible but unshakeable
bones in it feel (I can?)
The Fix – 26th June 2025
Five blind eyes, they run
here to there, fixing fixes,
‘cos there’s always one;
then fixing to put in place
fixes to fix the fixes.
Five blind eyes refers to the so-called Five Eyes coalition, intent on holding on to their crumbling empire.
I Am Suffering – 25th June 2025
Inspired by a quote from Gangaji
Tried and travelled,
I follow you;
Paid for or ingested,
I’m still here.
All your avoidance
keeps me close;
you can’t fuck me away.
You lie on
the other side of me
Beyond your own
realisation
Livestream – 24th June 2025
I.
Join us at eight pm. Going live!
II.
Screens soon flicker, fighting against the algorithm.
III.
It’s the feel-good story of today!
IV.
Rounding up the starving with generous aid.
V.
Machine guns rattle into the gathered crowds.
VI.
No mercy, no humanity – we’re livestreaming genocide.
VII.
Broadcast ends at nine pm. Gone dead.
Format inspired by this post by Nilofer Neubert – 7 lines of 7 words.
Interventions – 23rd June 2025
Do you want a life of happiness
or a life that’s full of meaning?
You can’t have both without
reality intervening;
Make a little space inside your head
,
allowing time to breathe
;
Ruminate if all your thoughts
are worth your time to believe?
Don’t be so quick to just dismiss,
but ask yourself, ‘Is it true?’
If unsure, then let it sit;
there are better things to do;
Each evening, make time to ponder,
celebrate your successes,
Make a note of your failings
planning your addresses;
Well prepared for the day ahead,
all challenges met with ease;
Ready for it to all go wrong;
You’re built for times like these!
Pushing outside your comfort zone,
it finally becomes much bigger;
The rollercoaster only has one path,
so that’s the one to figure.
Treading old ground but searching for my mojo again.
1994ever 