Author: shaun tenzenmen

Australasian DIY music specialist and practising poet, amongst other things

Cub Life – 2nd February 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

The fluffy cubs rushed through the gates,
to tumble like tide-bound turtles
with screams and smiles;
Morning glowing;
Future’s held in sticky paws.

Red-lasered eyes stare robot death!
Then signal bells ring out severe;
A solemn tolling.

A rabble, roused into queues
ordered and tight,
Silent prayers after heartfelt anthems;
A cane to stragglers!

The second toll peals out;
Renewed chaos leans
into the last five minutes of freedom;
A tasty time tinged with torpor (why must it end?).

Now, where the wilds removed, a hush of brain-humming
Why must the learning hurt?

The throb-throb of distant traffic,
of the adults, racing rats.
Empty minds enjoy their days!

Submitted for an AllPoetry assignment on free verse.

Unlovable II – 1st February 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

It felt like love, at least it seemed that way to me
Circumstances made it lighter than it should be
Now we have both learned to carry it differently

Our love was brittle, so as I saw new chances
We both became victims of those circumstances
A quiet candle burns, a little flame still dances

A true story though truth changes over time. Unlovable can be found here.
Inspired by this post on Instagram by muskurahateinn.

The Tired Cynic – 31st January 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I got tired of cynicism
Though it was fun when done well
My downfall, the criticism
From those who couldn’t tell

Well beyond the sceptical
The game no longer inspiring
Now to hide from all spectacle
That my ego was requiring

Once I’d met my match
I saw what I might become
Reset to start from scratch
Before I’d further succumb

So now just slightly twisted
My outlook is a little skewed
The way I have persisted
Was the better way pursued

Gods Amongst Us – 29th January 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 12 Comments

The most penetrating preachers,
hinting, they teach us.
Revered when stood alone
or their forest home.

Roots resting in infinity,
their own laws accordingly,
standing tall to represent.
When stormy winds relent

Nothing is more exemplary,
In nature growing free,

A beautiful strong tree.

Paraphrased a lot from a passage by Narayan Kaudinya on the Road to Nara blog and shared with dVerse Quadrille #216

RTMT – 28th January 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 6 Comments

Ambivalent to the critics
Recreating identities in the forge
The master of one’s own image
Youth that will live forever

Enthusiasm is common, endurance is rare*
Make to break and embrace mistake
Public gestures; look upon this fool!
The larger-than-life, the clown despite
Years of training to teach otherwise

An acrostic formed around a quote from *Angela Duckworth

Apocalypse Yoga – 26th January 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Landscapes of destruction and hell
Destroyed cityscapes aflame on fire
Devouring armfuls of pink men
Animals pick at flesh on barbed wire

Zerkon on your headphones
Quiet heralds the chaos to come
Settle into the warrior’s posture
Start banging the apocalypse drum

As anxiety rises in your bones
Breath deep the anguish and terror
Convulsing masses of flesh
Prepared for the yogi pallbearer

To six dragon hounds submit
Borborygms burst through the gut
A danse macabre meditation
Steeled the flesh for every cut

Tensions dissolve in exhalation
Stay in posture for nine breaths
Life leaves you little by little
Every nightmare, a series of deaths

Paraphrased and inspired by an absurd newsletter (The Poney Club Letter n°59) from the record label, Dur et Doux.

“Come Over” – 25th January 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I hate that I like it when you leave
me to wonder what you are doing
It’s only myself I choose to deceive,
a turmoil casserole left stewing

Between the devil and deep blue sea
I hate that I like it when you leave
Unsure to be tied down or set free
I’m trying to make us both believe

Mixed messages that we both receive
and send, hung up on to higher hopes
I hate that I like it when you leave
the bruises from your ugliest gropes

Our heads are nought but mush and despair
What is it that we hope to achieve?
Every night alone I say this prayer
I hate that I like it when you leave

Inspired by this post at Girl Online and also submitted for a refrain assignment at AllPoetry.com

Not Fade Away – 24th January 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 15 Comments

In every atom a universe
Where the sentient must survive
A speed of light, and so traverse
To keep life’s dream alive

Not fade away, cease to exist
Or slowly rendered rotten
The innate urge to persist
And never be forgotten

Without thought, without emotion
The proton set to dance
And swim the primordial ocean
Where life takes one more chance

Shared with No Theme Thursday picture prompt and also to dVerse’s MTB prompt about negation (which this poem sort of fits)