Tag: school

Laugh Or Cry – 31st August 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry
I don’t know, who, when, what or why
Spent my days in endless frustration
A victim of a worthless education

Now I’m at school on the other side
All the things I learned being applied
And frustrated kids look up with empty eyes
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry

The people who get on in theis world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.

George Bernard Shaw

Today I’m grateful for:
Being able to share my abundant fruits with other people. The papaya is delicious but I can’t eat six of them!
The best thing about today was:
A quick ride along back roads and tracks to Bruno’s reminded me of times riding my motorbike in Dorset as a teenager. The green overhanging fauna down dirty muddy tracks and lanes. The smell of fresh oxygen mixed with distant smoky garden fires. I was transported, if only for a moment.

I took this picture because I found these two ‘good boys’ far from their home on my morning walk and they followed me all the way back.

The Rock Of Truth – 21st June 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Standing on the bank of the river
Sympathies for those floating by
Your tears will cleanse your heart
You cannot comprehend my cry

I am the truth as rock
Stood for a million years
Listening to your sad songs
Whispered between your tears

Empty is your heart and hand
A touch so inviting and smooth
Your house without mirrors
To view your soul to soothe

Long you looked in ridicule
Shackled to the ebb and flow
Grabbing onto sparkling gold
And screaming to never let go

Imagery inspired by a Khalil Gibran short story

15th Jun 2024 – Submitted to RagTag Daily Prompt

Our diversity is not a reason to hate each other. Quite the opposite, we must admire and respect it.

found at Khimushin Alexander, original unknown

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that my brain was keeping me happy yesterday. It was a fun day at school with no teaching and lots of kids always wanting to talk with me.

Shoes For Goal Posts – 3rd June 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

It’s a fight, start with prayers
There’s lies, confusion, disarray
Sweat pours off the walls
Nervous to find the words to say
Repeating mistakes made
The copiers made all look fools
Yes, it’s a war of words
This battle raging within schools
No guns, but iron wills
The only shots are stares
Rewards a-long time coming
And not for the one that cares
Giving up is a sort of option
Answers found on a plate
Rescues become failures
Too impatient to sit and wait
One day the fighting ends
Everyone found to survive
It’s time to start on dying
And forget the time alive

An ESL teacher’s reminiscence for school days.

Lie to people who want to be lied to and you’ll get rich. Tell the truth to those who want the truth and you’ll make a living. Tell the truth to those who want to be lied to and you’ll go broke.

Jason Zweig

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for LungChom and their delicious coconut ice cream, the guy selling bananas at Fah Tai and Makro and Big C for their yoghurt and muesli – mix it all up in a bowl. Delicious.

Me Vs You – 24th May 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Is a choice between two evils
Even a choice at all?
And the middle is mediocre
If that’s where the chips fall
The balance of all power
Remains in the hands of a few
So the systems maintain
If the parties are one or two
Where corruption can be stamped out
And happiness prevails
Any system promoting self-interest
Will be the one that fails

The real object of pity is the person who has never been through adversity.

Seneca

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to meet all my new students yesterday. They all look cute, happy and expectant.

Once The War Is Over – 18th May 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

When it’s decided nothing is decided
What is left over will remain divided
Rewritten histories and redrawn maps
Humanity adjusts to new handicaps
Once the war is over it’s only just begun
Here comes another, and another one
Victory propaganda, revisionist extolling
Amounts to nothing as the tanks keep rolling

I am here, living, and in the depths of my existence there is a thirst and hunger, and I find joy in partaking of the bread and wine of life from the vases which I make and fashion by my own hands.

Yusif, The Tempest by Kahlil Gibran

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to see all my students again. They make me happy and I’m already back to dreaming about them and thinking about our classes. It’s like my brain switched on again.

Go Deeper – 17th February 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Stepping into traffic is a foolish test
There’s too many variables to control
A longer vision would be for the best
And more satisfying for the soul
Instant reward carries too much risk
All can be lost on a second spin
Life is a long time to exist
And goodness lies deep within

We receive three educations, one from our parents, one from our school masters and one from the world. The third contradicts all that the first two teach us.

Baron De Montesquieu

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that I have no classes for the next two days and should be able to find some free time for myself.

Old Punks – 16th February 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Rolling around the floor
In a holy communion
Brothers in legs and arms are we
Ecstatic violence
In joint participation
All for one and all shall be free
United we stood
Until we made our divisions
And our power would no longer be
Nostalgia now remains
A past to reminisce
Something that belonged to you and me

21st Jun 2024 – Submmited to Word of the Day Challenge

Don’t ask me what’s next, tell me what’s next!

The alternative is to draw the map instead of reading it.

Seth Godin

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful for a surprise holiday today. And the last two days of the week are sports days, so no teaching!

Fatman report