Author: shaun tenzenmen

Australasian DIY music specialist and practising poet, amongst other things

Closer – 14th July 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 2 Comments

all that’s left to us is hanging here

as a shadowplay to be decoded

an isolation of the atmosphere

the novelty of these days eroded


as another new dawn fades away

the eternal insight is taking shape

a digital transmission on repeat play

divided from joy, we seek our escape


all that’s left to us is hanging here

divided from joy, we seek our escape

I recently listened to the No Dogs In Space podcast’s four-part series on the band Joy Division and though this poem is shared for the W3 prompt of ‘scape’, I couldn’t get away from the word ‘escape’. The first line popped into my head (in reference to lead singer Ian Curtis’ suicide) and then Joy Division song titles flowed forth to fill in much of the rest of the poem. The title is taken from the second and final Joy Division album of the same name and can be understood in either way, to be near something or the end of something.

Galimathias Musicum – 13th July 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 17 Comments

He’s a loose liver, a great blusterer1
Building a life out of pieces gathered in secret.
Gradually becoming a disaster, his signature
He’s a man made of many departures.

At an all-you-can-eat festival of bad decisions
Only a maniac would slice cheese with a chainsaw
Cosplaying poverty, becoming marginally less useless
Words are only understood when you stop thinking about them2

We need to understand that we are already living with the monsters
Forming a complicated cake of dissolved civilisations
A concrete monument made out of nonsense
A fake perfume of cum scented compliments

1I read this line in a book, I think, but didn’t take note when I saved it for use later.
2This line is from a Substack article, which, again, I forgot to take note of

This hybrid cento came together after collecting a bunch of phrases (mostly linked in the poem) and then applying them to the GloPoWriMo Day 5 prompt: write a poem inspired by musical notation and words from a provided list (found at the link). I went with the following:
“gradually becoming a disaster”
Death metal symphony
nonsense, monument, concrete, departures

I was stuck for a title until I dug around a bit and found this from Mozart, the meaning of which is:
“Galimathias“: A pseudo-Latin term derived from French galimatias (meaning nonsense or gibberish).
“Musicum“: Latin for “musical.”
Together: Roughly translates to “Musical Nonsense” or “A Musical Hodgepodge.“

This seemed entirely appropriate.

And though the resulting Suno AI song is very straightforward and nothing like a hodgepodge, I think that it’s quite enjoyable. Please give it a listen below.

30th Jul 2025 – Shared with dVerse Poetics – Music, Play on

I Have No Art – 12th July 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Written (after the fact) for the GloPoWriMo Day 4 prompt: write your own poem about living with a piece of art.

Now, I have no art on my walls,
nothing at which to stare and contemplate
its meaning;


All the flashy screens beg attention
diverting my thoughts,
more mundane;

In simpler times, a painting was all.

Yet, over there, a student’s picture
– I requested her to paint my cats;

And glued to the wall, another friend’s
attempt at writing a comic about Chinese rock music.

Band stickers adorn the cupboards
and my favourite 30-year-old poster hangs tattily
above the rows and rows of CDs,
themselves, providing a wall of colourful design.

So, I guess there is art on my walls,
scattershot and thoughtless,
each little piece contributing to the library of my life;


a mirror without glass.

Definitions – 11th July 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I’m not a poet, but I write
to put these thoughts down on paper,
I’m no hero, but I will fight
for influence in this caper;

I’m not a real artist either
perhaps I’m swimming at the edge,
With faith but not a believer,
it’s only to myself I pledge;

Not really a teacher as such,
a student only when I please;
I say too little, say too much,
an expert without expertise;

I’m no writer, only writing
to fill up these empty pages;
No influence nor exciting,
no actor upon the stages;

I have no musical talents
always screeching into the void;
It’s an act I cannot balance,
never upset but just annoyed;

Am I a poet? You decide;
I don’t really care either way;
All too easily classified
I am or I’m not what you say.

Written for the GloPoWriMo Day 3 prompt: write a poem that obliquely explains why you are a poet and not some other kind of artist – or, if you think of yourself as more of a musician or painter (or school bus driver or scuba diver or expert on medieval Maltese banking) – explain why you are that and not something else!
I’m not so oblique though!

Life Is Jazz – 9th July 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 10 Comments

Written for the GloPoWriMo Day 2 prompt: Write a poem that directly addresses someone, and that includes a made-up word, an odd/unusual simile, a statement of “fact,” and something that seems out of place in time. Inspired by a piece of writing by David Elikwu.

Hey, Mister Saxomaphone,

hoot me a honk, and so right the wrong;

All the broken melodies,

reinvented

will create my song.



As perfect as a dirty corner

wherein lies the history of this room,

swept away by all your basses;

Mister Saxomaphone meet Thunderbroom!

A dizzy release of tension

but miles made me a kind of blue,

with a loosened grip of the sticks

the dischord births the cool.


A novelty of noise, your random riffs

brought my jazz to life, formed this punk

Mister Saxomaphone, I made my own song

from the power of your funk.