The Fear Of Freedom – 16th March 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

A paranoia that’s well-earned
Too many times fingers burned
A back stabbed by an active mind
Fears the freedom it has defined

Scared to step out of the light
Shadows whisper late at night
Whips and cracks echo the fear
That freedom is not present here

When they are us and we are them
And together we each condemn
Each other, our freedom’s clear
Surrendered ourselves to fear

Inspired by a short piece by Ryan Holiday

Sinking Sands – 15th March 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 27 Comments

Washed up on the sandy shore, I am the debris
of all the bad decisions made with certainty;
it seems I’m not done, up ahead, the paths to choose;
so many losses to come, so much more to lose.

For every adventure approached at full throttle,
all ended the same, clutching an empty bottle;
last night’s enlightenment sought to confuse;
so many losses to come, so much more to lose.

In pursuit of fun, all the wasted time I spent
losing myself in dreams and repeated lament;
here I go again, sober and set to abuse;
so many losses to come, so much more to lose.

A 12-syllable Complaint shared with dVerse and No Theme Thursday picture prompt. The refrain was inspired and paraphrased from this post at Tiny Hearts, though I’m not sure exactly who originally penned it.

Dragonflies and Daffodils – 14th March 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 9 Comments

As the summer days came by, drifting,
my demeanour grew more uplifting;
I took to sitting upon the sill,
to occupy the sunshine’s gifting.

Long gone the air of old winter’s chill,
April showers and softening still;
the harshness of all those darkest nights;
open the window to dog days thrill.

Ever changing, yet familiar sights,
somehow, the world now set to rights,
Lee and Nancy, with their velvet song,
saw me shine under the bright stage lights.

The future mine, I could do no wrong;
angels of innocence kept me strong;
yet now, the window, open too long,
the chill returns, and my hope all gone.

Nancy
her deep blue eyes
watch me from the cover
first stirrings of teenage dreaming
beauty

A chain rhyme quatrain (with bonus Cinquain) for an AllPoetry assignment, and shared with dVerse with the prompt Open Window.

During the summer, when I was 11 or 12, I would sit on the sill of my bedroom window with the window open to the birds and my imagination. I would imagine that I was the next Lee Hazlewood singing along to the whole of the Lee and Nancy album and hoping that I would be talent-spotted by any random passerby, of which there were very few as I lived in a remote countryside village. Not helped by the fact that I would duck away in shyness if anyone ever did come by! I was also a terrible singer.

I remember this album cover clearly and was sure that Nancy Sinatra had blue eyes! I can still see it in my mind!

But then look at this poem that I wrote 4 years ago, where I clearly state that she has dark eyes! Don’t trust your memory!

Did I just write a seasonal poem, too? I may have to kill myself.

Minnesota Pocket Circuit, aka M.P.C, is a hyper energetic midwest emo band with huge screamo influence. Embrace the Twinkly guitar riffs, highly energetic drums, and silly goofy depressing vocals and lyrics!

Split release between Desperate Infant Records in Hong Kong and tenzenmen in Thailand.

Review from Suspect Device

Bucket Lists – 13th March 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I got bored with my dream, so made another
I realised too late that I didn’t need to bother
Why are we always happy yet never satisfied?
Chasing a bucket list of things never tried

Charlie Zero The Poet Music picks & Reviews #15 and my quick thoughts:

isyouisorisyouaint – Tubeway Army 2019. No guitars!

Sleep Sigil – I dig this because it is ‘out there’. I’ll never listen to it again myself but I appreciate the fact that someone went to the trouble of making this.

vovaOMYT – Kinda cool and interesting. I think I best like the track featuring some dude with the same name as you – haha! Again, appreciate the effort but not for me.

Bent Knee – I thought that I was familiar with Bent Knee but maybe I was confusing them with beNt – who you should check out. You know, I think I have checked this band out before and despite the fact that the girl can sing I really don’t like the style. The music is great in places. Just wish it was a different singer.
Damn – I really do like the music (I’m listening to their first album) so I’m going to give this stuff more of a chance.

Tub Ring – Familiar with already. I dug them back in the day, revisited them a few years ago and didn’t like it so much but then a year or two ago, I listened again and realised I’d made a mistake. Great stuff.

Reader’s Dilemma – 12th March 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 5 Comments

New blooming flowers draw forward buzzing bees
inspiring budding poets with frivolous reveries,
this joyous re-creation, once poetic enough
spawns a thousand imitators – spring can fuck right off!

The glorious calms of a beach bathed in sun
triggers a thousand lines of torture begun,
this scent-filled glory, once poetic enough
to waste the paper and ink – summer can fuck right off!

The mourning skies becoming dull and brown;
woodland walks stir the poet to get words down,
this reflective mood returning, once poetic enough,
each leaf holds another cliche – autumn can fuck right off!

In hibernation, sat in front of a warm log fire
each crackle and sizzle will, the poet inspire;
This year’s snow (as every year!), once poetic enough;
the word weary reader wonders – winter can fuck right off!

Name – 11th March 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 2 Comments

Shared with Poetic Adventures Week 7 – The Hermit Crab

name
noun  /neɪm/ 

A1 [ C ]
the word or words

 that a person, thing, 

or place is known by:

 a baggage that you bring
from the decade flown by.

B2 [ C usually singular ]
the opinion or reputation
 
 that someone or something holds:
a good or bad recommendation

 as a steadfast future unfolds.

[ C ]
someone who is famous
 
 or has a good reputation:

far away from plainness

and need for explanation

by the name of something,

in search of a chosen one;

go by the name of something,
hiding from a hired gun;

in the name of someone,
the devil’s deed is done.

The Cooing – 10th March 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 7 Comments

Why do they move in their metal boxes?
They don’t have wings? They can’t fly?
How do they find their way home
When they can’t view the whole sky?

Do they love and mate with just one?
Both taking care of their nest
What the hell are they doing before the sun
Sets each day in the west?

Why do they not eat the food they leave
For us to nourish and grow?
Sat pondering on the wire, we can’t believe
That they know something we don’t know

Inspired by an image from an old No Theme Thursday and a conversation between Amy and me, where we wondered about the birds nesting next to our house and I wondered what they were thinking about us.

The Present Tense – 9th March 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 4 Comments

To understand the past
That can’t be changed
That’s a freedom
That has been arranged

Forgotten liberation
That always made sense
The past sensation
Brought to the present tense

Charlie Zero The Poet Music picks & Reviews #14 and my quick thoughts:

The Backseat Lovers – Very pretty tunes, mathy and twinkly in places. How does this style get classified these days? It goes from Ed Sheeran and Coldplay softness to more upbeat Math Rock Times style bands. I think this style is kinda popular, or so it seems to me. I guess I come across it often in my musical searching. One thing I really don’t like about this style, though, is the super-clean production. It’s very sterile. Overall, it’s OK, but it’s no Tubelord or the better parts of Johnny Foreigner.

King Geedorah – I have no connection to hip-hop, really, and this won’t convince me either. Weirdly, the ‘beats’ or ‘samples’ are pretty interesting,g and the ‘rap’ detracts from the song for me. Makes me think that I’m listening to the radio in Grand Theft Auto.

Los Bitchos – This is cool. I went through a strong phase of listening to Eastern and Eastern-influenced music, thanks to Secret Chiefs 3. I still dig it, and this is fine and all, but it’s not going to set the world on fire. The reggae and surfy tracks don’t really grab me as much. I’ll give this another go in the future.

Blowfly – Already familiar and I like the juxtaposition of the wild, fun funk and the over-the-top gross lyrics. It’s like euphemism-free Funkadelic.

Cuco – big nope. I don’t know who or how anyone listens to this type of music. It’s nothing music.

You Are My Only Witness – 8th March 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 7 Comments

This braided poem was assembled after reading a couple of posts at Sonia Dogra’s blog, borrowing the first line and then weaving together the lyrics from Nomeansno’s ‘It’s Catching Up’, with an imagined meeting with an old friend both now and in the past.
Also shared with Poetic Adventures

We bring with us the weight of others
Living rent-free in our heads

– Have you heard the news?
– The dead walk

We’ll meet in my room again

How to disconnect from the connected?

A sweet, dusty smell of cigarette ash
A comfortable haze, a bitter beer taste

– Do you hear that sound?
– Like fingers scratching underground

We’ll drive our parents crazy

The burdens of reality are distraction
Voices wild and unnerving

– Do you hear that sound?
– That slamming door

Put on another record to soothe the pain

My only friend, history made us enemies
It only felt like forever

– I’ve fought it all my life
– I can’t fight it anymore

We carry a deep nostalgia for last week

Here again, drawn to that sound
Everything changed, and nothing too

– It’s catching up

Listen to another record, this time alone

The same thought overwhelms us

– How do you hide from something you have
found?