Author: shaun tenzenmen

Australasian DIY music specialist and practising poet, amongst other things

In Submission – 12th November 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

A smart-mouthed bad crazy-drunk
Forgotten night of manic adventure
Black-eyed slurred self-pity
Another slug of ‘no surrender’

The door opened by the bottle
Ushers safety within its cage
Discard the day of tired dreams
Darkness enlightens the stage

The truest friend ever found
Til the comfort became a curse
A body weighted in dilemma
On a mission to submerse

Down, down under the table
Joined by the rats and the finks
Afraid of love, the amber’s pull
Further into the ether sinks

Another sniff to calm the edges
Eyes hidden from the light
Til Jesus was doing cartwheels
Across the lawn one night…

Submitted to AllPoetry.com competition of Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins quotes. Quote as prompt (and paraphrased):“Jesus was doing cartwheels across the lawn in the porch light.”

One More Time – 10th November 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 37 Comments

Amongst the beauty of everyday
Familiarity may breed contempt
Waking with enthusiasm to play
Becomes more difficult to attempt

Maybe it’s a concrete jungle
Or a paradise you are facing
Each day a success or bungle
The happy rats keep on racing

So here it is and here we are
Another mountain for us to climb
Our attitude got us this far
‘cross crystal waters, one more time

Written for Sadje’s What Do You See picture prompt (above) and Reena’s Xploration Challenge – everydayness.
3rd Sep 2025 – Submitted to dVerse Poetics Tuesday – life and lemons

Pinky Shake – 7th November 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 14 Comments

All these pacts we make
A pinky shake decided
Forever our love
Sung to the mountains and skies
Across the valleys beyond

Whispered words that shine
Pledged to never breach or break
Future in our hands
Temptation will not lead us
Not this time, never again

Obligations shared
For us to build castle walls
Our words are at stake
We know it won’t be easy
That’s when the tough get going

We brokered this deal
To shape a nest of relief
Sometimes days are dull
For the warmth, we must maintain
A flexible foundation

Let us bend in sync
The winds of change will blow through
We’ll not break this bond
Pick you up when you stumble
Fend off discontent and pain

All these pacts we make
Pledge to never breach or break
Our words are at stake
For the warmth, we must maintain
Fend off discontent and pain

A garland tanka shared with Tanka Tuesday using synonyms for promise and comfort

A Box Full Of Cubans – 6th November 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 6 Comments

Blue and red both arm an expansion
Desperate to maintain and hide inside
Sighs at sixty years of sanction
When a box of darkness opens wide

Despite the embargo, we’ll flip this lid
Set fire to watch the ashes emerge
Behind the masks the ravaged skins did
Weave around the desire to purge

So let’s puff away and soak in glory
The winners crush dust into the floor
The fat man claims to make the story
And blockade away forever more

Written for an AllPoetry.com assonance assignment and using the Poets and Storytellers United prompt – “a box full of darkness”, as well as The Sunday Whirl Wordle #679 – sighs fire flip ravaged blue floor emerge masks ashes soak skin weave

The Silo – 5th November 2024

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There were many that day
Was it day? Is it night now?
Here, it’s not possible to tell
Time has lost all its meaning

We lined up waiting for the interview
It has been a long wait
But I will review all that came to pass
It was obvious, even as I said it
It took me a long time to figure it out
The master told me that messages were sent
But I had been slow to realise

Later, we all gathered round
And I wasn’t the only one
Most of us facing the review agreed
That we all took too long to realise
Then we returned to the silo
Perhaps one day, we can try again

A time-disorientated play on a life’s review in The Matrix or Heaven.