A Table Set For One Instead Of Ten – 25th June 2026

The steady hum of overlapping hands,
Hallways thick with the echo of our names.
School bells gathered us like windswept sands,
To kitchen tables of communal claims.

The city that we built, we knocked it down;
Your side of the bed is no longer warm.
Those names are now a room I walk around;
No audience left for whom to perform.

Streetlights shine where I no longer belong,
Just one plate set at a table for ten.
I am the echo that once was a song;
Now silence settles in my inkless pen.

Written for dVerse – juxtaposition. This is a commentary on the contrast between our past and current (or future) selves.


Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

The Wise Don’t Have ‘Problems’

The wise person understands expectations
Knowing when to keep their mouth shut
We should listen in most situations
When we mostly do anything but….

Dead Daffodil – 16th March 2024

Time marches on, each golden dawn
The love call in lingerie wears thin
Beautiful eyes now weep forlorn
As the devil burns at Narcissus‘ skin

With the white lion tete-a-tete
Thalia laughed in comedic grace
Ice follies not quite melted yet
Double smiles across Merlin’s face

A sovereign, a sentinel of silver smiles
Once orange progress or pink pride
February gold fades as June defiles
The Dutch master‘s lemon beauty died

Submitted to dVerse’s Daffodil prompt. Naturally, my mind wanted to turn around the joys of spring and to already mourn its end before it even begins.


Today I’m feeling:

Grotty. Getting up at 4am for Oh and Aun’s wedding has knocked me sideways. In between things that I need to partake in I lay down and dizzily dozed. Each time getting up gingerly worried about fainting.

Today I’m grateful for:

Being able to grab a four-hour afternoon catch-up sleep. I could’ve gone through until tomorrow if I didn’t have to attend this evenings reception, where I’m sitting now wondering if I have vertigo.

The best thing about today was:

Sleep.

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

Not enough sleep and too much sleep! I also didn’t manage to study any Thai today.

I took this picture because I liked the juxtaposition between the two sides. The facade all looking beautiful and behind the scenes the wood and nails holding it in place.
Fatman report