Tag: dVerse

True Power – 14th August 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 16 Comments

Armed with anger, we come to believe
that our wounded dignity is protected;
lock ourselves in to keep the monsters out,
all we see are targets to be rejected;

The demon whispers on our shoulders,
“Where is justice?” “Where is your peace?”
But anger never delivers on its promise,
a fast cash deal, a momentary release;

When wounded, why hold onto the pain,
unable to accept the simplest solution?
Your life is too valuable to sacrifice
at the altar of retribution;

True power lies in the ability to let go,
to walk away from a pointless fight;
outside is a world of possibilities
before the coffin lid slams shut tight.

Another paraphrased poem inspired by David Elikwu’s newsletter at The Knowledge.
Shared with dVerse Poetics Tuesday – power

How The River Runs – 11th August 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 8 Comments

A reimagining of this poem from Sadje – written for dVerse MTB – cherita

—

A merciless tide

drags the shore
no plea, no anchor

fists clenched at the sky
the storm passed
leaving only echoes

—

A silent serpent

slithers forward
beneath the bridge

ashes on the current
no hand can gather them
again

—

A calming salve

shadows swallowed
deeper than roots can reach

rest now
like a river at dusk
carrying the moon’s reflection

—

Schulweg – 9th August 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 27 Comments

seit dem kindergarten

unser alltag
gemeinsamer

kopf voller träume
offen
zum lernen

hand in hand
wir verlassen
den platz

und tragen unsere zukunft
in unseren herzen

gebildet

An up-and-down cherita for dVerse’s MTB and inspired by the attached picture. I used Google Translate to arrive at the German. I have no idea how poetic it might sound in that language – any tips appreciated. Here’s the original English write:

since kindergarten

our routine
together

head full of dreams
open
to learning

hand in hand
leaving
the square

carrying the future
in our hearts

educated

Along The Stream – 26th July 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 18 Comments

The sky was Australian blue;
not the first time we kissed –
that time
we smashed our teeth together due
to excitement – our tryst
sublime.

Along the stream, we got undressed,
the passions came and went –
took heart.
That memory is still the best,
long after this time spent
apart.

Shared with dVerse Meeting The Bar – not quite meeting the theme of ‘anniversary’ though this is a memory that I recall at least once a year, reminiscing on the wild emotions of discovery of new love.
The form is memento (2 stanzas, 6 lines per stanza, 2 tercets (2*3 lines) per stanza, syllable count per tercet: 8,6,2; 8,6,2, rhyme scheme abc, abc)

Sigma – 25th July 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 4 Comments

Shared with dVerse – Who has a sweet tooth?

Born of the sugar babies,
full of ADHD;

The shortest attention spans,
worse than Gen Z;

The glass generation,
sharented by tech;

Sucking AI lifesavers
or a virtual idol mech;

Branded from birth
with avatar identity;

Logos before letters
and synthetic celebrity;

No razzles or starburst
needed for the dopamine tooth;

Swiping right for success,
sigma generation AI youth.

The List That Never Began – 15th July 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 22 Comments

A list poem that starts this way
Because another form comes into play
Can be seen as difficult, for sure
Do read on, as I will explore
Every nuance of this list I write
Forming here in black and white
Going forward, we must begin
Here listing so many things akin
I’ll start, I will, I promise, soon
Just give me a minute to attune
Keen, I am to make this perfect
Like a real word architect
Maybe I need to start the list here?
No, not just yet, I fear
Only I, the holder of the pen
Provoking the inspiration when
Questions arise from further in
Ready to get deeper under the skin
Shall we start? I think we’re ready
To see the first line, strong and steady
Underneath, the list will form
Variations of this long brainstorm
Where’s the list? I hear you ask
Xenial towards this unusual task
You’re wondering if I can succeed
Zoned out, I forgot to proceed
And so it goes around again….

Written for the prompt, Write a List Poem using the Abecedarian form found here.
9th Jan 2026 – Shared with dVerse MTB: first to last letters

More Than Meets The Eye – 1st June 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 12 Comments

It was a moment that went unnoticed,
I thought that I was just living;
inside, thoughts were being processed,
imagining that I could be forgiving;

Time became a great pretender,
to forget was an impossible aim;
teaching me that this offender
tried their best to hide their shame;

I tumbled on in a desperate air,
into the future, I was falling;
ideas left me in a difficult care,
insistent on a decisive calling;

So it was that I became
stuck along with my liberation;
someone new, yet still the same,
struggling towards my transformation.

A Trolaan shared with dVerse on the theme of crisis.
Trolaan, created by Valerie Peterson Brown, is a poem consisting of 4 quatrains. Each quatrain begins with the same letter. The rhyme scheme is abab for each quatrain.
Starting with the second stanza, you use the second letter of the first line of the first stanza to write, each line beginning with that letter.
In the third stanza, you will use the second letter on the first line of the second stanza and write, each line beginning with that letter.
In the fourth stanza, you will use the second letter on the first line of the third stanza and write, each line beginning with that letter.