Tag: Lorraine

Morning Paralysis – 25th August 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

Waking up for each morning’s graces
I analyse my thoughts from twenty paces
Before a single movement, I’m off to the races
Paralysed with the fear of my many faces
OCD has me trapped within its embraces
I’m one of the doctor’s strangest cases

Written for the Chimeric Poetry Scavenger Hunt:
Write a Quadrille as a Monorhyme.
This poem is written from the perspective of an old girlfriend of mine who suffered seriously from OCD, so much so that she couldn’t move her body when she woke, as her brain tried to work out the order that she needed to move her muscles in to get out of bed.
I’m pretty sure I borrowed the second line from someone but can’t remember who.

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

Respect The Past But Be Open To The Future

The pioneers are not our masters
But they surely are our guide
They make excellent forecasters
Take the future in your stride

Closing Down Sale – 15th November 2001

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Put up the signs
Bargains to be had
Body closing down
Mind going bad

Take everything I have
It means nothing
Take it away
And make it something

Nostalgia always hurts
Time’s so far away
Every new day doesn’t count
It’s just another day

Stepping closer to the end
Maybe it’s today
Close my eyes
And never wake again

18th Oct 2024 – I’m guessing I was frustrated at Lorraine’s indecision and occasional rejection around this time.

Should I Stay Away? – 5th November 2001

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Such a fragile thing
Why do I want to break you?
Touch your delicate face
Afraid you’ll crumble to dust

I want to feel your warm breath
In night-time clenches
But afraid I’ll throw you away
When you become too familiar

Maybe I should stay away
But I feel a need to be saved
A continual desire for a companion
An ever-decreasing circle of self-fulfilling prophecy

18th Oct 2024 – Questioning myself about my pursuit of Lorraine as I was conscious of the deep love that I had felt for, firstly, Bronwyn and then for TLJ and what drama I had caused them. I had not been without a girlfriend for about ten years and TLJ noticed this as a weakness (particularly relevant to her, as I had transitioned my relationship from Bronwyn to her without a break). Although TLJ and I had broken up by this point I had been meeting Lorraine (outside of work) and we were figuring things out between us.

Nothing Much – 3rd November 2001

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I’m pretty damn good at nothing
Much at all
Jack of all trades with no
Trades to ever call

Everything must be in the right place
Line it up, symmetrical and straight
The sequence is so important too
Each placement

Line it up, make it perfect
Symmetrical and straight
Dust it, dust it, dust it
Now do you feel great?

Took you all day
To make your muscles move
Counting each one in sequence
Got it wrong, start again
Start again from the beginning

18th Oct 2024 – Feeling sorry for myself after a wild year in 2001. The crossed-out attempt at poetry was about my then-new (or soon-to-be) girlfriend, Lorraine, who suffered from severe OCD.

What’s In There? – 6th September 2001

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I see her sometimes lost
Unclear, wandering, isolated
Searching for something far away
Blind to solutions near

Sometimes forceful and defiant
Determination found then forgotten
Slowly slips away and meanders
Back to new avenues for exploration

What’s in that head of yours
That pulls you apart so deeply
And stops you from finding
The light so obvious inside?

18th Oct 2024 – Written about Lorraine, an attractive co-worker who I pursued, eventually becoming on-again, off-again partners. I saw a kindred spirit of someone with mental health issues.