Tag: GloPoWriMo

Lemongrass – 23rd June 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Cooking under the tin roof
the humid rains will pitter-patter,
the chef remains aloof
to the oil’s sizzling splatter;

The house becoming eager;
the wind’s historical waft,
a heritable recipe keeper;
a plate that’s quickly scoffed;

A herb of refined taste,
enhancing by its bright flavour;
no tall stalks to waste,
tightly chopped to savour;

I like it! But what is this?
the dish has been disguised,
a little ginger, a little citrus,
my taste buds smile, surprised

Written (after the fact) for the GloPoWriMo Day 6 prompt:
write a poem describing the taste of the item in Column A, using the words that appear in that row in Column B and C. For bonus points, give your poem the title of the word that appears in Column A for your row, but don’t use that word in the poem itself.

LemongrassPitter-PatterEager


FFS (False Flag Shooter) – 1st May 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 4 Comments

Written for GloPoWriMo 2026 Day 30:
Try writing your own poem that discusses a real or mythical being or profession (demons, firefighters, demonic firefighters) with the same sort of musing yet dispassionate tone.
And talking of lyrebirds, this write is very obviously a mimicry of the example poem for this prompt, Angels by Russell Edson.

They are of little use. They are best as objects of ridicule.
Yet no government runs without them.

Like lyrebirds, and yet almost human . . .
They communicate by briefly looking at each other.
Their legs are like red jellybeans.

Sometimes they have been said to inspire a President to do more with his life than he might have.
But what else is there left for a President to do with his life?

…Their ears burn beautifully with a red flame.

When they cry out, it is like the screech of a tiny hinge; the cry of a bat. No one hears it . . .
Yet fist pump bigly.

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Make Character Your Loudest Statement

Carry no uniform
No stereotype
Your character
Breaks down all hype

A Thing Of The Past – 30th April 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 3 Comments

When I look back to the past…
this morning’s coffee –
and from there, I try to trace the day
back to now.

Everything I learned since 1967
I remember, but cannot recall.
Everything that happened since 1967
made my day today.

While reading Remembrance of Things Past
I wonder how Proust knew what I was thinking?
Just another reminder that ‘this’
may (or may not) be true.

Written for GloPoWriMo 2026 Day 29:
Compare your everyday present life with your past self, using specific details to conjure aspects of your past and present in the reader’s mind.

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

What Is In Keeping With Your Character?

Your opinion is an invisible script
Something you may not even understand
Your own compass must be tightly gripped
So that your character grows as planned

No Other Side – 29th April 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 6 Comments

This life gave you nothing,
it only made time pass.
Every photograph is a question.
Is it a rainbow or a cloud?
Chickens still cross the road
even when there’s no other side.

Written for GloPoWriMo 2026 Day 28:
Try writing a poem that follows the same beats: three sentences, six lines: statement, question, conclusion.
Sentence one is a quote from Knausgaard (whoever that is!) and the last sentence is a paraphrasing of a lyric from the Volcano Suns’ Sea Cruise.

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Washing Away The Dust Of Life

The cosmos may seem complicated
We’re infinitely small amongst the whole
Nature tells us that life is simply stated
Your thoughts are within your own control

He Is, She Is – 28th April 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

She:
Maybe the world
didn’t revolve
around your plans?

He:
Because liars succeed only
where there are men
who want to believe.

She:
Borderline loving –
enough to fuck,
not enough to be loved.

He:
He guides her fall from the curb,
sheds one happy tear for his good luck,
and feels better.

She:
She grew up too soon –
Her plastic pets left in the garage
My dusty little ponies

He:
He can only fall in love
while he’s already in love,
having no idea what love is.

She:
Her next steps are secrets.
Then again, maybe the world
doesn’t revolve around her plans?

The world has a thousand ways of not loving women

Written for GloPoWriMo 2026 Day 27:
Write your own poem in which all the verses contain the same number of lines (whether couplets, triplets, quatrains, etc.) and in which you give the reader instructions of some kind.
But I forgot to include any instructions, although you can read them between the lines.
This poem also includes several borrowed lines – all linked in the text – from A Kings (paraphrased), Ashley Guzman, Shayne Rich (paraphrased), Brendon Holder, Deanne Dee Daydreams. All on Substack.
The second stanza, I came across in Penguin’s The History of Lies but I forgot who said it! And the last line was taken from somewhere/someone that I have also failed to note! If it is you (or maybe it’s a famous quote), please let me know.
Oh yeah – the title is taken from the Mission of Burma song of the same name.

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Want Makes You A Servant

Others’ power exists due to our wants
If you can change that, then you’re free
If chasing money is your response
They’ll insist on how you must be

A Single Dusty Shoe – 26th April 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 2 Comments

Written for GloPoWriMo 2026 Day 25:
Write your own poem in which you use at least three metaphors for a single thing, include an exclamation, ruminate on the definition of a word, and come back in the closing line to the image or idea with which you opened the poem.

When the rains came that day
  you had to wonder why?
What had you done to deserve
  these questions from the sky?

School was quietly cancelled
  and you had to entertain
ideas to the innocent
  that you were unable to explain.

A story folded mid-sentence,
  the page torn from the first chapter;
a question…
  that will never reach an answer.

Somewhere, a plastic tricycle
  and a single dusty shoe
are waiting as a reminder
  of the happiness you knew.

It’s a goddamn genocide!
  Yet it’s constantly denied –
On its way to a holocaust
  from which you cannot hide.

No – it’s a goddamn genocide!
  One day to be repaid
By ghosts of all those glass bells broken
  when the rain returns – afraid.

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

There’s Nothing Wrong with Being Wrong

No one has ever been harmed by the truth
Only those who dwell in ignorance and deceit
Have we learned nothing since our youth?
Admitting error is not admitting defeat

Downcast Eyes – 24th April 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 12 Comments

Another woman with downcast eyes
Hands folded like origami cranes
How may she cast off her old disguise?

‘Too much’ or ‘not enough’ – no surprise
“How these things should be,” he gently feigns
Another woman with downcast eyes

She builds a fortress of compromise
Forever dragging along her chains
How may she cast off her old disguise?

Surrounded by her filial spies
Unwelcome in so many domains
Another woman with downcast eyes

In darkened corners, her silent cries
Her will to survive all that remains
How may she cast off her old disguise?

In this world, always denied the prize
That the patriarchy ascertains
Another woman with downcast eyes
How may she cast off her old disguise?

Written for GloPoWriMo 2026 Day 23:
Try your hand today at your own take on a villanelle, and have the poem end on a question.
and for dVerse Poetics – Exploring the art of Gerard Sekoto
Inspired by a Substack conversation with Sunra Rainz

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

A Productive Use For Contempt

Look closely – everything is absurd
See things for what they really are
Hold contempt for the things you’ve heard
Because all that glitters is bizarre

The Decision – 23rd April 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 2 Comments

I: Do it. No one will know. Pull the trigger. One move. Done.
Myself: You know that’s murder. You know what that makes you.
Me: Woah! Let’s slow down. Say I do it. Then what?

I: Then nothing. Peace. No more flinching every time a siren sounds.
Myself: You carry it forever. Every single night. Every single mirror.
Me: I hear both of you but this needs time to decide.

I: There’s nothing to decide. He breathed wrong. He wins if I don’t.
Myself: You win by being nothing like him. Don’t become the thing you hate.
Me: What if I just leave instead? Same result. No blood.

I: That’s the coward’s way out. He doesn’t feel a thing that way.
Myself: Exactly. He doesn’t feel a thing. That’s mercy. For both of you.
Me: I’m not sleeping tonight. I’ll decide in the morning.

Written for GloPoWriMo 2026 Day 22:
Write your own poem in which the speaker is in dialogue with him or herself.

Very much inspired by LucyLaughs at Writers Digest, who has been writing in dialogues like this for a long time. I wanted to imitate this style, making a note about it around a year ago, and today’s prompt pushed me along.

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

The Mind Is All Yours

You are body, breath and mind
But only one is truly yours
Body broken, breath hard to find
Your mind carries all the cures

After Words – 19th April 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 8 Comments

Epilogue:

So that was it, the story done,
everyone was dead – everyone!
A tragic tale to be very sure,
even the heroes were no more.

But just as this tale was being told,
a similar one was taking hold,
Because history is always repeated,
as if the lessons had been deleted.

It becomes a chore to tell again
the hows, the whys, the where, the when.
So the storytellers always return
to teach the students who failed to learn.

Shared with GloPoWriMo 2026 Day 18:
Try your hand at writing a poem that could be a section or piece of a story. 

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Our Sphere Of Impulses

Surrender and serve the common good
With power or not – leave room
Everyone can be the one who could
Provide the answers that you’d presume

Some Kind Of Love – 17th April 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Every day I hear you call.
The beast rumbles
and so the hunt begins!

Temptations triggered
by olfactory memories.
Salivating salvations!

Down the aisles
or spread before me.
Swords to the ready!

Sometimes I don’t want
to talk or think about you.
I’ve had enough.

Some days are sharp,
others piquant or honeyed,
but balance is better.

Some kind of love?
Because without you
I would die.

Written for GloPoWriMo 2026 Day 16:
Write a poem in which you describe something that cannot speak, and what it has taught or told you.

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

No Harm No Foul

The interpretation of words holds power
The difference between fight and connection
The choice between the sweet and sour
Is purely based on your reception