It seems that the further I go, the further back I get*
I’ve got shovels for deeper digs
But I won’t let you cry
Please shed no tears
For me
Now
A made-up form, lines of syllables; 14, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 * appropriated from Mudhoney
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
No One Said It’d Be Easy
Nothing can deter the good from honour Nothing will lure them into what is base If doing good was easy, everyone would do it Pleasure and power always need more space
Tonight, the moon is a ghost behind the veil, but my own spirits force me to set sail, Youthful bravado will be the death of me; the moon is behind a veil.
The fog laid low, a dirty sheet, but speed and danger taste so sweet. My bones grow cold, I must sleep; the fog, a choking sheet.
My nineteen years, all lost to the light; Mom and Dad – it’s icy black tonight; It will be a misty morning for sure, now I’m lost to the light.
I’ll wait for you, somewhere just out of sight, somewhere, just out of sight.
Written for Day 19 of the 2025 GloPoWriMo: write your own poem that tells a story in the style of a blues song or ballad. One way into this prompt may be to use it to retell a family tragedy or story, or to retell a crime or tragic event that occurred in your hometown.
This poem tells of a school friend who crashed his motorbike one foggy night in a nearby village. Though we weren’t especially close, it was still a shock to me. The title is a play on his real full name.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Take A Walk
The mind will wander with a walk There one will find a clearer head Time and space away from the talk Breathe a little and walk instead
The image shows the girls of Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab on February 25th, who were all killed in an attack attributed to the United States and Israel.
Speaking a second language hearing only the first.
Opposite things can be true as enemy flags flow in harmonic waves.
Rhetoric raises ghosts outside of reality’s window. Feverish certainty knows no consequence.
Outside is only more noise in solidarity with itself.
But here, real, live, breathing… ‘symbols’!
Fantasy politics, safely in faraway fields, grain-fed on grief no one has to harvest.
Take these children, lay them neatly on the altar of an unnamed dawn.
Call it tomorrow.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Don’t Tell Yourself Stories
Are the tales we tell about ourselves really true? Was everything so certain and so real? Don’t create a fantasy around everything you do When for others it holds no appeal.
Not a new metaphor by any means but this is my take on the theatre of life. Another poem, belatedly, written for Punam’s dVerse prompt of using opening lines to books as closing lines to poems. This one is “Here is a small fact: You are going to die” from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
Act 1, Scene 1:
Scriptless and shoved onstage mid-scene, hot lights glaring; applause and judgment circling for lines never rehearsed.
And yes, every actor exits, no matter how fierce their monologue. A trapdoor beneath every spotlight.
The curtain falls without exception.
Act 1, Scene 2:
Between the acts of this cabaret there is that strange, unchoreographed stretch; where the stage lights hum and the lines grow thin in our hands.
And those unscripted pauses, those missed cues and improvised lines…? They are only the bright, temporary glare, the hush before applause or silence,
Act 2, Scene 1:
and the quiet truth that for a moment, against your choosing…
you were here in the light.
Act 2, Scene 2:
You owe the audience nothing. You are simply here, for a brief while, and your time is yours to fill or to simply endure, as you must.
No obligation, only the raw, temporary fact of existence itself.
Act 2, Scene 3:
Birth – a brutal act that makes me wonder, ‘why?’
Finale:
Here is a small fact: you are going to die.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Where Philosophy Begins
Exercise reason, question your beliefs Consider everything taken for granted Take the first steps towards inner peace With the seeds, just yesterday, planted
Keep guard over your perceptions It’s not a small thing you’re protecting Don’t sell out to simple deceptions It’s your peace of mind you’re respecting
I’m sending you all a letter You’ll receive it when I have gone It may not be anything much But may mean something to someone
But the meaning it will contain Multiplied by my own demise Even if only for a time There’s not much left to give surprise
This is a reference to scheduling posts far in the future that will be delivered after I die. This could be one. Who knows? 26th Sep 2025 – Shared with dVerse OLN as not many eyes made it to this one.
Face the world alone with your suspicions Silently wake to the morning’s pledge Whisper in the darkness all your secrets Your novel nears the river’s edge
Board the vessel unable to steer The ache of nostalgia for the past Alone again, your secrets spilled The river flows along, wide and vast
Surprisingly good despite only 5 hours of sleep and waking up still drunk. I know it will catch up with me later, but right now I’m getting myself set for the flight back to Chiang Rai.
Health:
Physical: 6 Mental: 8
Today I’m grateful for:
The Casa Luna homestay in Siam that was in a good location and reasonably priced. Nothing extravagant but everything that we needed.
The best thing about today was:
Getting home. It’s nice to go away but it’s also nice at home.
I’m also surprised how well I feel considering how much I drank last night.
Something I learned today?
Ipswich lost their first game of their return to the Premier League, 2-0 at home to Liverpool. From the look of the highlights, they seemed to do well for the first 60 minutes, though.
I took this picture yesterday at Union Mall because I was surprised to see a Junji Ito t-shirt here.
Super tired as I definitely didn’t catch up on any missed sleep from Sunday night. Never mind. I’ll have to try tonight.
I was looking forward to sitting down with some coffee and free time when my grade 9 students called me and asked to move their class from the afternoon to this morning again.
As this kinda suits me too, leaving the afternoon free, I rushed back and we went in search of a free room, ending up in the library.
Health:
Physical: 6 Mental: 7
Today I’m grateful for:
Nong Kratae for helping out Anchan as much as she can. It may not be much and it may not be enough for Anchan but Kratae is offering some hope at least. I will have to think of something that I can do for her as thanks one day. And I will ask Anchan for suggestions and if she can contribute in some way too.
The best thing about today was:
I felt my health improve a little over the day, especially mentally. Somehow, being at school is picking me up mentally, whilst seemingly running me down physically.
I was particularly energised after my grade 8 class finished at 12.30 but I didn’t leave school for another 45 minutes as various groups of students came to distract me, wanting to chat.
Something I learned today?
After much hassling from my students, I installed Instagram and TikTok and have been trying to work out how they work and if they are even remotely useful for me.
I still don’t quite get them or how they work. At the end of the day, I just want to use this software to stay in contact with my students in the future.
Review your acts, Good and bad.
As I was contemplating being able to finish early and go home, Anchan messaged me asking to go with her to Nong Kratae’s for the first time today this afternoon.
I guess as I wasn’t due to finish until 4.30 pm anyway, then it’s not a big deal and I’m hanging around at House catching up on reading and writing. Trying to get my brain back into poem-writing mode after a few days away from writing.
Tonkhaw took this picture because….he was happy to see his teacher hard at work, perhaps?
I want to see the grief expressed Hear the kind words manifest Let me celebrate the life I led To become immortal now I’m dead
You don’t need to shed those tears I got to enjoy so many years But being gone is a long, long time Don’t forget me and what was mine
What wishes made, to have been said Or ones wished retracted instead Look on my legacy for what it’s worth You’ll soon join me too, returned to earth
You and me, will all be forgot Ladies and gentlemen, that’s your lot!
Inspired by reading others’ poems about grief at dVerse this week and the idea of wanting to know how others feel about you once you are gone, much like my teenage student, who, after attempting suicide, said that she wanted to see her mother’s reaction once she was gone! 12th Feb 2026 – Shared with Reena’s Xploration #417 10th Apr 2026 – Shared with Poets and Storytellers #222 – Legacies
Today I’m feeling:
Tired and a little sick with a sore throat. I slept for almost twelve hours and crawled back in again at around 11 am, after a couple of coffees.
Today I’m grateful for:
Amy told me that she was talking to a village auntie (the cowman’s wife) over the fence this morning and asked if I was teaching at CRPAO. Amy said yes and the auntie said that her son is in grade 8 and that even though I don’t teach him, she has heard that I’m a good and kind teacher.
That was nice to hear.
The best thing about today was:
Eating some nice food at Bruno and Nut’s place this evening. Even though I was feeling a little tired and sick, I enjoyed eating, talking and listening with them.
Something I learned today?
I watched an interesting video about a new DAW in development called Blockhead. Even though I don’t even use the DAWs that I have, I would still be interested in the idea of playing with them one day.
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