Tag: society

Never Alone – 2nd July 2025

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

When news is not information now,
full of alarm and entertainment;
Politics is no longer governance
but just a circus full of distractions;

A world where feeling good
beats what actually is good.

So the product goes unrecognised,
the deceit is ever more efficient;
The mirror only reflects the beautiful;
No craft, no taste, no art, no passion;

Learned to feel good
without learning what is good.

Optimised for consumption,
the comforts counter discovery;
Hacked brains dopamined to diversion;
never alone with a phone in your home.

Limitation – 20th May 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 2 Comments

There’s liberation in limitation
Reality cannot be broken but may be bent
Your freedom is in your imagination
Not in the amount of guns or money spent

Everything is a choice to be made
Choose anything and all else is rejected
The reward is in the excellence made
That’s the freedom that you selected

Inspired by Epictetus and this Stoa Letter
16th Oct 2024 – Shared with Word of the Day Challenge

Today I’m feeling:

Really lazy this morning with nothing to do except check out and then go somewhere to hang out before going to the airport.

Amy returned about an hour after me last night and had been throwing up. I got her into the room and after a bit of sorting out, she slept. 

Today I’m grateful for:

All the taxi drivers, train drivers and airport folks who got us from there to here. Home again. It’s a massive effort of societal coordination and a privilege we often don’t think about.

The best thing about today was:

I experienced a brief moment of bliss as I balanced the taste of lemon tart and bitter coffee at the Coffee Club at the airport. It was so expensive I made damn sure I savoured it.

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

There was a lot of waiting around today. It’s a bit of a write-off. We weren’t inspired to venture anywhere. I used the time to catch up on reading some poems.

Something I learned today?

Manchester City won the English Premier League. I think it was for a record-breaking fourth time running.

I took this picture at the cafe yesterday because it’s an interesting little statue that caught my eye. No pictures today as it was mostly the insides of hotel rooms, taxis, trains, shopping malls and airports.

Made Of Plastic – 6th October 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I’m made of plastic
I will melt in the sun
I’ll poison the grounds
Where clean waters run

I’m made of plastic
For 5 minutes convenient
Thanks to the dinosaurs
Providing my ingredient

I’m made of plastic
I’ve no use to think
Formed into containers
For the water that you drink

I’m made of plastic
Providing a life of ease
I may not live forever
But longer than the trees

I’m made of plastic
Cancer waits its turn
Coming to the ground near you
Or to the air to burn

Not rarely will a person suffer from neurosis that results from the situation of a sane man living in an insane society, rather than that of the more conventional neurosis of a sick man trying to adapt himself to a sick society.

Erich Fromm

Today I’m feeling:
Happy and chilled
Today I’m grateful for:
Being able to hop on my motorbike and pay my electricity bill at the shop when my app didn’t manage to work.
The best thing about today was:
Closing the gate this evening. In fact, for the last few evenings, the sky has been fairly clear and the temperature perfect to just stand and admire the moon, the stars and clouds as well watching multitudes of fireflies and storms gathering on the other side of the valley with great bright yellow flashes lighting the way.

I took this picture because Aing drew these little pictures when she was staying here when Amy and I were in Bangkok. They were a nice surprise to find when we got back home together, back in July.

Mice And Men – 21st March 1984

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

They’re winding up the world that’s got too old
Flowers destroyed and no earth to hold
No precious life for us to grasp
Only contaminated air to gasp

Historic monuments will all crumble down
Finally destroyed the government and crown
All the class barriers finally broke
Lying now on the grass to choke

The power struggle has finally closed
To my waiting death, I slowly dozed
The fright has ended, the shock has gone
Now I’m asking you – who has won?

Horror Nasty – 28th December 1983

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Don’t wanna watch The Sound of Music
Cos real horror makes me sick

Living zombies of blood and gore
A schizophrenic rotten to the core
Coming after you with a Texas chainsaw
All the kids shout ‘We want more’

A mad axe killer on your TV
A family film for all to see
His guts squirming from his belly
Falling out like fresh set jelly

Oh no they’ve raided the local shop
They’ve put our fetish to a stop
There’s no place that ain’t had the chop
No more films! Over the top!

I need to see blood so I walk the street
Hammer raised ready for someone to beat
Poke out their eyes and cut off their feet
This horror nasty is really neat

Don’t wanna do the sounds of music
Cos real horror makes me sick