Watching Storms – 3rd July 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 3 Comments

Sons, be men and get yourselves laid,
chase easy girls and compare your scores;
it’s the game for generations played;
the winner receives the most applause.



Girl, keep your legs shut, quiet as a mouse;
male privilege will never extend to you;
I never want a whore in my house;
someone else’s daughter would have to do.

Inspired by this article at Tumultuous True Stories by Lindsay Byron

Never Alone – 2nd July 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

When news is not information now,
full of alarm and entertainment;
Politics is no longer governance
but just a circus full of distractions;

A world where feeling good
beats what actually is good.

So the product goes unrecognised,
the deceit is ever more efficient;
The mirror only reflects the beautiful;
No craft, no taste, no art, no passion;

Learned to feel good
without learning what is good.

Optimised for consumption,
the comforts counter discovery;
Hacked brains dopamined to diversion;
never alone with a phone in your home.

Perfect End – 1st July 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

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

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

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

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 7 Comments

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.

Unshakeable Bones – 27th June 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

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?)