Author: shaun tenzenmen

Australasian DIY music specialist and practising poet, amongst other things

It’s Voodoo, Man – 11th September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 5 Comments

Enthralled by perceived charisma, you will hear these words oft-repeated
We will provide you what you deserve of which you’ve been cheated
The masks will swap, convincing you that change means not the same
Scapegoating other players is just the way ahead in this game

There’s no escaping the treadmills that you yourself wished created
Signed on to the terms and conditions that we have dictated
Ignorance is a more terrible curse than anything we could invent
So the illusion must be maintained with your monies well spent

I tried some long-line rhyming! The initial inspiration for this was the 7th line, taken from the comic Shadowman – hence the title.

House Of Secrets – 8th September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Cain will never stop killing his brother
There is no path to peace
Perpetually fighting one another
A house of secrets has no keys
Each morning another death repeated
Each night let the tribe increase
The human condition cannot be cheated
Until, in time, the tribe will cease

Inspired by Nick Cave’s explanation of the song Frogs and ‘let the tribe increase’ is taken from The Mob’s album of the same name.

Thinker’s Tableau – 7th September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 16 Comments

An audience quiet
Digests careful words
Rapt in attention
Honesty demands
A thoughtful response
Worthy of the room

To conjure reply
And beg discussion
Once contemplated
Wind blows back and forth
To bend and not break
Careful and controlled

To think and wonder
Share our differences
Arrive at conclusions
Agreed to or not
Left to meditate
Played well for pleasure

Shared with No Theme Thursday (attached picture prompt) and dVerse MTB – tableau
16th Dec 2024 – Shared with Ragtag Daily Prompt – meditate

The Infection – 6th September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Let’s get serious
This is no time to sleep
Now we’re in business
Gulp the air in deep
Let’s get serious
This is no drum circle of friends
Roar out your heart
As if your life depends
Laugh until it hurts
And all that’s broken mends
Let’s get serious

A fold poem variation inspired by the folks I used to see in the park every Saturday morning when I took my son to swimming class. I forget their group’s name but they were essentially a Laughter Club and would stand in a circle and force themselves to laugh loudly. Submitted to dVerse’s Poetics: Just for Laughs prompt.

Spin Sorrow – 5th September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 12 Comments

Spin your sorrow into strength
Weave new words of wisdom
From your free-spun mind

Deny spider thoughts at length
A lost control decision
Loosened the threads that bind

Put back together the unravelled
With stories around the campfire
And a beaten-up guitar

A quadrille (44 words) for dVerse Quadrille #207 – spin and first line inspired and paraphrased from this poem ‘Losing my grip’ by Carol Anne

Thumbing Kerouac – 4th September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 7 Comments

Thumbing Kerouac again with a sigh
Yearning to be back on the road once more
The vines of fear wrap around my thigh
Rooting me here to tap at the door

The flash of sky will release the rain
The vanishing days despoil this trip
Blind to the trickles down the pane
And the candle top’s constant drip

Strong we are in the sun
Knowing one day
the rains will come

Submitted to WDYS #252 (picture prompt above) and Wordle #669 (12 words below)