Tag: dVerse

Close To Home – 4th October 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 23 Comments

When the light pours out of me*
I will be there as your guide
A whisper from your guardian angel
To counter the devils at your side

Here is the lie of the land*
I’ll shield you from these rocky shores
Vigilant against the swelling tide
Forever knocking at your doors

When the light pours out of me
Together we shall roam
When the sunsets on the horizon
You are always close to home

Shared with WDYS #256 picture prompt and dVerse OLN #371
*paraphrased from Magazine.

oday I’m feeling:

Good, though I was enjoying a dream when my alarm went off. Picked up coffees at Utopia before heading to school. I’ll hang here for a couple of hours before going home. Get some more reading and writing done.

I’ll start thinking about new lessons next week.

Back at home, I had a snooze before heading to my room for more blog updating and a little guitar playing. Then back inside to prepare for Nut and Bruno arriving for dinner.

Health:

Physical: 7
Mental: 7

Today I’m grateful for:

Nut bringing some beautifully baked bread for us. I was so hungry that I wanted to eat it immediately but didn’t want to spoil my appetite for dinner.

The best thing about today was:

Chatting with Bruno and catching up on things. I was pretty tired but never bored, and stimulated with talk about music, culture and books, amongst other gossip-type stuff.

Something I learned today?

Kru Tang sent us the plan for next week and then the week following is a holiday.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

I tightened up the bolts on all the chair legs before Nut and Bruno arrived. I felt recently that some of our chairs were getting a little unstable when sat on.

A Reconciliation – 23rd September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 18 Comments

How to make something happen, how
To meet what’s left for me head-on
It’s a long road travelled upon
So what dreams of the future now?

I ran so fast to get ahead
After all the rushing around
I’ve found my feet stuck to the ground
How to make something happen, how

Can I learn from my past mistakes
Blindly followed the loudest voices
Crossroads offer too many choices
So what dreams of the future now?

How to make something happen, how
To reconcile the debris of all that’s gone?
So what dreams of the future now?

A reflection on getting older and wondering what might be next. I’m reasonably happy with my life and feel a little lack of ambition. This could be the folly of comfort but I’m tired too.
Shared with dVerse Poetry Form: Villonnet and Poets and Storytellers United – dreams and also for a course at AllPoetry.com
17th Dec 2024 – Published at Edge of Humanity

Today I’m feeling:

A little better again this morning. It was good to see more kids around school and I’ve managed to get out a little bit for a coffee kick start.

I sent a message to Kru Mai at around 10 am to see what was going on and was told that I could find 2/7 and help them out with cleaning.

So I went back to school but it was an hour and a half before I found them and they were just sitting and waiting in the canteen.

I helped out a little here and there as I was walking around but it was very disorganised and chaotic, though some of the motivated kids were doing a lot of work.

I found Jet and asked her what her class was supposed to be doing in the afternoon and her reply (as was everyone’s) was just ‘cleaning’. Whatever that might entail. She said she will probably ‘jump’, meaning skipping out of school and I laughed and said ‘same!’

Health:

Physical: 7
Mental: 7

Today I’m grateful for:

Having options for other coffee shops now that House won’t be available for a while.

I tried Hobby this morning but the coffee is not to my taste, really and also expensive at 70 baht.

In the afternoon, I went to 22 Grams, where at least I know the coffee is great but that is also 70 baht too.

Maybe I will try a couple of other places this week just to see what else is out there.

The best thing about today was:

Getting into a real flow again this afternoon whilst at 22 Grams. I caught up on a lot of reading and a bit of writing and also worked out some other ideas for publishing poetry on Instagram and Substack.

I ended up spending almost 4 hours there and was in a good mood, so I thought to drop back by school on the way home just to check in with what was going on.

However, literally as I crossed the road to my car a huge storm rained down and traffic slowed as rain flooded the roads, possibly as most of the drainage was still blocked from mud.

I decided to skip school, though it took me a fair while to get back home as the rain pelted down all the way.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

I’d thought that I would pick some things up from Makro on the way home too but the rain put the kibosh on that.

Not to worry, if the rest of the week goes like today, there should still be opportunity to do a little shop one afternoon.

Something I learned today?

I learned a little bit about setting up Substack to publish and then also started investigating the Buy Me A Coffee app, though I struggled to figure out how to add the widget or embed it on my pages so far.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

I ended up giving Film my copy of Childhood’s End today. I hope he can enjoy it and get something out of it.

Praewa took this picture because she wanted to take photos of me helping to clean, which was a good idea just in case I got asked if I had helped at all!

A Lull; A Crisis – 14th September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 19 Comments

A Lull

Lulled into obedience
Cocooned in a routine
Lulling in a language
The soft belly fattened
Lulled back to sleep
A thief’s hand in the pocket
A lull in the fighting
Fresh-faced provincial naivety


A Crisis

Always in need of a crisis
To keep putting up prices
Push the thorn in deeper
Make this pain a keeper
Today was another bad day
Another breath stolen away
A cake built from glitter and guns
Towards the battle runs


A Lull; A Crisis

Lulled into obedience, always in need of a crisis
Cocooned in a routine to keep putting up prices
Lulling in a language, push the thorn in deeper
The soft belly fattened make this pain a keeper
Lulled back to sleep, today was another bad day
A thief’s hand in the pocket, another breath stolen away
A lull in the fighting, a cake built from glitter and guns
Fresh-faced provincial naivety towards the battle runs

6th Jun 2025 – Shared with dVerse OLN #385

Today I’m feeling:

Lazy again. The dark grey sky has returned with a light, constant rain. Even though I woke up and got up at 7 to feed the cats, I went back to bed and, after reading for a while, dozed a little too.

As I was driving out for coffee this morning, I was thinking about how I generally only feel motivated when I have to go to work. When I have some pressure to be doing one thing, then I’m really motivated to do another thing! This feeling is making me concerned about actual retirement. I have to figure out a way to be motivated when there is nothing else to do!

Health:

Physical: 7
Mental: 7

Today I’m grateful for:

Amy getting us motivated and out of the house. At about 11.30, she said that we should get some old clothes together and donate them to people who need them at the moment. Lots of people are donating food but so much of it is getting thrown away as it is going off before it can be distributed.

It is a little heartening to see how people are pulling together to help each other and even to watch some folks laughing as they clean up the mud around their houses.

Others are not so happy, though. I dropped by House on the way into the city. Gui wasn’t there – he decided to stay in a hotel – so I talked a little with his mum (as best I could anyway) and she showed me inside the shop, which is a disaster, as is their front room, kitchen and bathroom, the back garden and even the parking area.

His mum couldn’t be sure how long before they could get everything sorted and the shop open again. Maybe even up to three months. I think Gui might just give up. Others who are renting their shops will be facing the same questions.

Tokyo heard me talking to Gui’s mum and barked from the safety of the terrace above the kitchen. She soon ran down and through all the mud to jump up at me as I had a snack waiting for her. She is oblivious to what is going on around her.

The best thing about today was:

Getting up and about and not just lying down at home reading or watching TV. I was also informed that school won’t open again until Thursday at the earliest, though that may change as I heard that clean-up had already started.

After seeing some of the damage in the area today, though, I can understand why it’s not just a matter of the school but also of the affected students, too.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

Driving around the city and particularly the area near my school brought home the amount of damage that folks there are dealing with. All the roads are a mess of garbage and mud. Animals are loose, fields are empty and flattened and even some walls were knocked down or foundations for poles and fences so soft that they have keeled over.

We felt very subdued by it all and even though people are pulling together there’s a sort of bewilderment in the air. About 80% of shops are closed, whether they are affected by the water or not. The economy was already struggling and this is another setback to recovery.

Something I learned today?

Brisbane scraped through their final with the Giants and I listened to it live on the radio though as I wasn’t particularly invested in either I was also doing other things until the final ten minutes or so.

That means Brisbane will play Geelong and Sydney will play Port. Could end up being a Sydney Geelong grand final again and it will bring back memories of getting absolutely smashed by them in the grand final two or three years ago, whenever it was.

Well, we have to get there first and I will listen live a little more intently on Friday for sure.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

Donating a lot of clothes and pillows was appreciated by the folks doing the organising of the distribution. I hope that they end up getting to people who really need them. There may be a few villagers who end up with ni-hao! And SpeechOdd t-shirts that were too big for me.

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

Today I’m feeling:

Quite well rested, waking up at nine this morning, though I think I may have slept after midnight as I was into reading comics.

Health:

Physical: 7 Mental: 7

Today I’m grateful for:

Selling a couple of items online after a quick post on Bandcamp and Facebook and then getting some more of the HighxVoltage/Speech Odd LPs out to HV and Heaven and Hell in Bangkok. Days like this make me feel more connected.

The best thing about today was:

Finding a couple of cool Thai bands through a random discovery on Facebook, contacting the record label and the guy there saying that he thought tenzenmen was cool. It’s nice to get some positive feedback.

And despite thinking just a couple of days ago I can’t afford to be getting involved with any more releases yet, today I’m wondering if I can be part of these band’s upcoming output. Sigh!

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

I ran out of steam this afternoon as I primarily went to my room to write and play guitar but got stuck into packing up all the orders and requests for merch. By the time I picked up the guitar, I couldn’t stick with it for more than ten minutes and then when I sat down to write, I couldn’t find much inspiration.

That’s fine, though. Tomorrow is another day and I will get some writing done then.

Something I learned today?

The local post office is only open from 9 am until noon but at least it opens those hours on Sunday, too now.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

I swept up the leaves in the entertainment area of my own volition.

I cleaned up the rat!

I cleaned up the litter trays at Amy’s request.

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.

Today I’m feeling:

A little blurry but a little better again. I still have phlegm stuck in my throat but it’s not as intense as before. I’m starting to get back to normal.

It was also good to get back to school today and get me off my lazy ass and into the maelstrom of kid craziness.

(Later) By the end of the day, I’m feeling almost back to normal and motivated again. Hooray!

Health:

Physical: 7
Mental: 7

Today I’m grateful for:

Still being motivated enough when I got home to get out into my room and get some stuff sorted, though I ran out of energy before I could play any guitar.

The best thing about today was:

Enjoying all my classes today, made more entertaining by there being fewer students and being able to spend more time interacting.

It probably helped that everyone was in a good mood, as we all only had one day of school this week.

I also think that I will try to copy the format of today’s lessons, as they were relatively simple compared with some that I try to teach.

Something I learned today?

Hawthorn smashed the Bulldogs tonight, so both Geelong and Hawthorn are looking good right now. The Swans game is tomorrow and I am nervous and excited. It’s going to be a tough task to win the Premiership this year.

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

Today I’m feeling:

A little tired and still with a croaky throat. I don’t feel as sick as I did at the beginning of the week, though. I didn’t sleep so well as my hips were aching again. If it’s not my neck, then it’s my hips!

Maybe I’ve been lying down too much this week, though and need to get back to moving again.

Health:

Physical: 7
Mental: 7

Today I’m grateful for:

Receiving some of the things I ordered online today. Cat food, granola and kratom.

The best thing about today was:

I was happy to find out today that Amy’s health check turned out well. I should get mine done, too; they have a special price deal until the end of the year.

Also for receiving an overseas vinyl order, plus possible distro to Germany and Japan. I need to get back into my room and packing stuff to ship.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

The plan was to go to Big C after running Amy around at the hospital so that I could get some more Duocets at the pharmacy there, but the doctor wasn’t due there for another three hours.

They told me that he’ll be there all day tomorrow, though, so at least I can pick them up then. I’m down to the last one.

Something I learned today?

Big C is stocking the yoghurt I like now, so if Makro runs out, I can try there too.

I took this picture because these seed pods are pretty unusual to me and stood out in the driveway.

Fairlight Falls – 1st September 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 6 Comments

Fairlight falls down
side-poured through silver
trunks dripping gold

Soft feet crinkle steps
along a path hidden
under the crispy cakes

The third of March,
we two are three,
Mother and son

One foot forward,
a thought not repeated
on this path trodden once

Soft, bright and smooth
hands held in safety;
the comfort of a paw

Knowing no place to go
into the autumn stride
compelled towards the light

My first attempt at a triversen (as discussed at dVerse) using the No Theme Thursday picture attached as a prompt

Today I’m feeling:

A little better after coffee but this morning I didn’t want to get up and covered my head with a pillow to block the light and noise from Cap scratching at the door to be fed. I was slow to get up and felt like a zombie trudging around the house.

My eyes still ache and there is a weird feeling at the bottom of my throat. Whenever I tilt my head back, I’m automatically forced to cough. I want to feel normal again!

Health:

Physical: 6
Mental: 6

Today I’m grateful for:

A little five-minute ride around the back of our house on the way back from coffee this morning.

Even though I know the roads well enough, they always look different each time I go there. Stuff grows so quickly and at the same time can be removed quickly too.

The best thing about today was:

A documentary about Rhodesia/Zimbabwe gave me some more information about the history there, after reading about it in the Decline and Fall of the British Empire.

The traveller who made the documentary also followed on into South Africa and it was interesting to note that it seemed to be safer in Zimbabwe, which I was a little surprised by.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

I slept for three hours after lunch today. This was better than yesterday at least, when I slept for two hours before lunch.

Something I learned today?

Ipswich have their first point of the season after a one-all draw against Fulham yesterday.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

As I was riding around this morning, Amy called me to pick up some tomatoes. I was nowhere near the market by that time but I went back and spent ten baht!

I took this screenshot from a video sent to me on Friday morning, from three students who were off doing something and couldn’t come to class. All they said in the video was ‘We love you, teacher Shaun!’ Aww.   This is Toey and Air.

The New Normal – 30th August 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 22 Comments

The dream is dead, since the sixties
Turned to the seventies, nice and sleazy
Endless wars processed the hippies and pixies
Economic vandals left a peace uneasy

Was it in our name, the forever fight for peace?
Did we ever question what’s going on here?
The grabs for land then returned for lease
The struggle for survival, a punishment severe

Can the decks be cleared with genocide?
The algorithms are running the numbers
There’s no longer a place to hide
And we’re left holding only clunkers

Sign away our lives with disappearing ink
Fingers crossed and handshakes informal
Accustomed to shit we no longer smell the stink
This is the new normal – abnormal

Submitted to Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge – Uneasy, Weekend Writing Prompt #378 – Severe (though not 18 words – I always forget that there’s a word limit in Sammi’s prompts!), Monday Poetry Prompt: Abnormal and Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – Clunkers. This could also be submitted to dVerse – stormy weather but I already submitted another poem to that.

Today I’m feeling:

Uncertain yet. I slept for about ten hours and could’ve slept more, too. I’m still coughing but it doesn’t feel so much like there’s a hole in my chest.

I’m looking forward to the end of the day already.

(Later) I was a little ill-prepared for my first class, grade 11s doing presentations, as the lesson I had could be completed quickly. 

As this class is fairly lazy, though they didn’t care and spent the rest of the time playing games or sleeping. I did go around engaging them in brief conversations, though. 

The next class were grade 11 too and we did my Scams lesson and it went well and I was particularly happy with Sugus who seems to have been trying harder over the last few weeks. She has improved her English and I made sure to tell her and encourage her.

I dashed off for coffee and caught up with reading at lunchtime before heading back to help the students with the play, cancelling my afternoon grade 8 class.

Health:

Physical: 7
Mental: 7

Today I’m grateful for:

Having the freedom to cancel a class and accept the invitation from the students to help them with their play. 

I’m not sure what the teacher in charge really thought about it but she was only there briefly anyway.

The best thing about today was:

Watching my second grade 11 class set to the task that I set them for the final hour of the lesson. They all got to it quickly and would ask me for help and advice when they needed it. 

I guess these kids have matured to the point where they just need pointing in the right direction now.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

I ended up leaving school later than normal and sent a message to Amy that I’d be running late and she then reminded me that she was going out for dinner, so that I would have to find my own food. 

This meant spending some of what little money I had left this month. What could I do? I have to eat!

Something I learned today?

The last day the students will come to school is the 27th of September. That’s just four more weeks! Time to wind down!

Whilst helping with the play, I discovered that my old student Achang potentially has OCD. There was a part in the play where he should grab another student’s arm but he was really reluctant to do it. 

I thought that it was a cultural thing or just shyness but the other students told me that he will always go and wash his hands and that he has a problem.

He is also supposed to be acting like a smooth-talking player but is lacking confidence in being able to pull it off.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

I spent an extra hour helping with the play and gave them as much as I could, considering that they have to perform it in the next few days. 

They were all very appreciative at the end of the afternoon, though and that made me feel good.

I took this picture of Guitar, Lin and Poppy as they perform this cheerleader routine at the beginning of their play.

Insatiable Child – 21st August 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 7 Comments

I don’t know why
She bent to my will
Years later
It confuses me still

Why did she
Fulfil my dreams
Ignoring her own
As I played my schemes

I was the child
Though she was younger
I was insatiable
She fed my hunger

Submitted to dVerse Quadrille #206 – bend

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty good after sleeping well. A little bit of exercise again, where my body felt good immediately afterwards, though it was also telling me that it would be great to go back to sleep again. That will have to wait, though.

Health:

Physical: 7
Mental: 7

Today I’m grateful for:

Kru Karn encouraging her grade 8 students to commit to the assignment that I set and do so in their free time. 

Most of them complied, and it was actually a fun, though slightly chaotic, afternoon.

The best thing about today was:

Starting some little Instagram videos of a little stupid idea I had. I got three done at random times today and have sent them to Jet to see if she can fancy them up a little before posting them online.

Also, the grade 8 classes that I talk about elsewhere here were fun too.

Something I learned today?

Two of my grade 8 students came to me during my afternoon class, claiming that they couldn’t do my assignment, of a three-minute conversation with another (unfamiliar) student, because they were introverted and too shy. Both their English is reasonable too. 

I encouraged them to just try and do it and that afterwards, they would feel much better. Sure enough, they seemed quite pleased with themselves when they had finished.

There were others too, putting up some opposition to this task and I explained to everyone that now is a time to put their learning to use, instead of just filling in gap-fill forms or doing grammar quizzes.

It’s making me rethink what I want to do with these classes next.  I learned a lot from it.

I took this picture from a video that I was trying to do with this student, Best.  I don’t teach her, but she must know me through her friends, as she always wants to talk with me when she sees me. Today though, she couldn’t stop laughing when trying to make the video.

Placard – 20th August 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 9 Comments

To protest alone demanding to be heard
Upset at the wrong use of the word
Defined by slogan, magnified by fear
More important than contrition here

Any apology draws more contempt
No exclusion, no person exempt
A placard of placation has no effect
What does repetition come to expect?

A madness of masses in individual
A singular dogma conformed to ritual
Angry at the freedoms provided
For all to enjoy themselves divided

I’m still reading Crisis In Culture and finding new inspiration to write.
29th Aug 2024 – Submitted to dVerse – stormy weather

Today I’m feeling:

Not so bad. Amy woke up before my alarm and started looking at her phone and the dull light movements were enough to wake me too.  I covered my head with another pillow but soon enough, my alarm went off.

I managed to motivate myself to do a little exercise, which got my blood moving, which was good.

Both my classes were fairly entertaining and fun, though the rowdy grade 8s were certainly noisy today, but as I gave them the speaking task they’ve been practising again, I wasn’t so bothered.

After class, I ended up stuck in the canteen talking with many, many students.  I was kind of waiting for Jet to appear, as we had discussed her editing some Instagram videos for me and she said she would be around there at lunch time.

Eventually, I left though, back for another coffee and some reading and writing catch-up before heading home.

Health:

Physical: 7
Mental: 7

Today I’m grateful for:

A quick power nap from 4 til 5 that, if I hadn’t woken me from, I probably could’ve slept through until morning.  I’m also grateful for Amy’s home cooking, which I haven’t had since Friday, as we’ve either been out or I’ve just made myself sandwiches instead.

The best thing about today was:

Hanging with the students at lunch time was a lot of fun, as I walked around and found new groups to chat with.

I went over to sit with Momo, Baifern, Pan and Namsai, and Momo always gets nervous in these situations because I’ve known her for a long time already. She told me that Pan really wanted to talk with me but that her English wasn’t good enough.

So I went and sat next to Pan and got her talking as much as she could. I told her that the only way to improve is to practice and to talk to me whenever she wants. I think she was happy that I was prepared to make the effort and I was happy that she tried her best too.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

I’d been given a room to teach in for my grade 10s but found that it was being used today so we had to resort back to the library again, which wasn’t too bad in the end.

Something I learned today?

Momo and her friends told me about a new app that they are using to study English called Edsy. I’ll check it out.

Momo took this picture of me and Pan at lunchtime. All the younger tomboys love Pan.