Tag: Tanka Tuesday

Lips Shut Tight – 23rd October 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 8 Comments

Private in my thoughts
Breathe deeply with lips shut tight
Cautious of conflict
Concentrating and counting
Listen to air, push and pull

~What’s that I smell? An idea rising!~

My throat starts rattling
For a thought now fully formed
With my turn to speak
I watch you concentrating
Lips shut tight, breathing deeply

A tanka puente shared with Tanka Tuesday wordlist – listen, smell, speak

Today I’m feeling:

Good again, though waking before my alarm again, then getting back into some sleep and my alarm going off, shocking me reluctantly awake.

Last night, before I got into bed, I went outside to do some dead hangs to stretch my shoulders out. My hang rings are in the entertainment area, which is currently covered in a vine that hosts all sorts of creatures.

When I got into bed, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there were spiders crawling over me and I was itchy all over. I had some welts on my neck and arm too, so something was obviously dining on me. However, I couldn’t see anything.

I still got to sleep quickly but even this morning, I still feel itchy; maybe whatever was biting me has put an itching agent into my blood.

Today is a holiday but I was told we still need to come to school. When I got there, though, there doesn’t seem to be anyone around! Never mind. I’ll take this opportunity to do some more writing and another lesson plan.

Health:

Physical: 7
Mental: 8

I’m wondering if I will ever move past 7 for my physical health? The daily dead hangs are helping with my shoulder and if that possibly leads to fewer problems with my neck, then just maybe…

Today I’m grateful for:

The family at the two-dollar shop who helped with a couple of plumbing supplies this week as I attempt to fix the dripping pipe under my sink.

The mum and daughter were at the counter and they looked exactly the same (except one is a child, obviously), allowing me to make the joke that they were sisters.

The best thing about today was:

Being in a good, positive mood all day. It started with a good attitude to being at school despite it seeming that many other teachers didn’t bother to hang around, then writing a poem that I particularly enjoyed the results of.

In the afternoon, when I got home, I enjoyed playing guitar more than usual and really, really loved the comics and book that I’m reading.

It’s been a good day all round.

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

Whatever was out of my control today completely slipped on by without my notice.

Something I learned today?

Amy’s plans for our trip to Chiang Mai on the weekend are slowly coming together and I am finding out what my chauffeur duties will be. I’m fine with everything so long as I can find an hour or so to get to a book shop or two.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

I bought some fruit at the market and got an extra tray for Baipad and her family.

I took this picture because Garfield was rolling around at the entrance to school today. He(?) is really affectionate.

Strong Cap – 19th October 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 12 Comments

Vacuous thoughts rise
– then becoming prosaic
Never surrender!
Clarity comes with coffee
– so life has meaning again

Shared with Tanka Tuesday using synonyms for mindless and humdrum and reflecting the struggle to write before coffee and the ability to conjure words after coffee!

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty good, getting up at a reasonable time. My hips were aching again, telling me that I need to move my lazy ass around more.

Health:

Physical: 7
Mental: 7

Today I’m grateful for:

The neighbours’ kids playing in our driveway and garden and making enough noise to ensure that I woke up from my afternoon nap in the living room. I couldn’t resist the temptation to sleep today after a big lunch.

The best thing about today was:

Reading 2000AD and Judge Dredd comics. I love their crazy stories so much and there are so many of them. I’m now up to the end of 2005 and thrilled to think that I still have another 19 years’ worth to read and by the time I get there, there will be another few years more too.

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

I took Amy for lunch as she made fun of me last weekend for taking my students for pizza and never taking her anywhere. I decided I wanted Lard Na near Big C.

When my food came, I poured over the sauce but we had forgotten to tell them that I didn’t want any pork, which isn’t usually in the sauce anyway but this time it was.

I picked out all the bits that were obvious, but resigned myself to eating the rest of the food, as I had already covered everything with the sauce and the crispy noodles and chilli vinegar were delicious.

Something I learned today?

I was surprised to see Gong in Utopia this morning. He was off being a monk as far as I knew but he told me that he was working as a coffee roaster in Bangkok. He said he missed Chiang Rai, particularly as his girlfriend is still here.

Review your acts, Good and bad.

When the kids woke me up, Amy soon came in and asked me to help her in the garden. I was still a little slow and blurry, and Amy had me up the ladder to try to attach our vine plant to the tree so it grows over and provides more shade. I wasn’t much in the mood for it, but did it and ended up doing a few other things of my own volition too.

I took this picture because now the rain and cloud has gone, everything is turning a deep green, preparing for a lack of rain for the next six months.

My Compass – 11th October 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 24 Comments

Uncertainty filled
Troublesome future begins
The big questions unanswered

Yet you bring to me
A much-needed light to shine
My compass, my map and guide

Shared with Tanka Tuesday (life change) and Moonwashed Weekly Prompt (where I’ve taken Eugi’s words and added to them).

Mondo poems are often very brief collaborative affairs (usually written by two poets) that present a question. (The question needs to be open-ended and poignant and should be a test of the answerer’s wit). The answer is written in the style of trying to glean meaning from nature. My poem doesn’t quite fit this requirement but let’s use our imagination.

Mondos can be as short as a one-liner or as long as two 5-7-7 syllable stanzas.

The first stanza presents the question; the second stanza gives the answer. We usually write this form in the spirit of Zen, responsive through meditation and observation of natural surroundings.

Today I’m feeling:

Reasonably ok, though I woke up early again and struggled to get more good sleep before my alarm went off.

The morning passed quickly with more reading and writing and, shock horror, even some lesson planning – though it was more thinking and organising than writing any new lessons.

Health:

Physical: 7
Mental: 7

Today I’m grateful for:

The ladies in the financial office who helped me to provide them with the documents that they had requested. Through broken English, broken Thai, phone translation and gesture, we managed to get everything sorted.

The best thing about today was:

Making it out into my room but not long enough to play guitar, which was my initial intention for going there! I ended up sorting out the Hellboy comics reading order in my files, which took a fair amount of work and it was dark by the time I finished and time to eat.

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

I got a message last night from Anchan saying that she checked into the hospital again last night, as she has a fever and was worried that she would go into shock. I offered to bring her food or whatever she wanted but she said that she wasn’t allowed visitors.

Something I learned today?

The Internet Archive is currently the target of hackers and it would be a travesty if the data held there were lost. Some people have compared it with the Library of Alexandria.

I took this picture because Garfield was in the in-tray when I went to visit the financial department. Earlier I had seen him sitting comfortably on a ledge with a one-storey drop on the other side!

A Tropical Wish – 8th February 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 7 Comments

There is no spring here
Where I’m sitting warm
Tropical thunder
Crashes all year round

No icy mornings
I’ve never felt snow
One day I wish to
Wear a winter glove

To feel warm red cheeks
To see words in breath
A thick winter coat
Wet with cold, cold snow

Like two cats in love
We’ll keep ourselves warm
The bud breaks the bark
I’ll watch in wonder

Shared with Tanka Tuesday – Kigo words ‘cats in love’
10th Nov 2024 – Shared with Ragtag Daily Prompt – glove

Today I’m feeling:

A little tired again I think because whatever is giving me a sore throat is just taking a little out of me.  I don’t feel too bad but on the edge and it could go either way. 

I slept relatively early again and got up later, skipping exercise again.  There’s nothing to do at school today as all the kids go off camping and thankfully the high school foreign teachers don’t have to go like the primary teachers do. 

Coffee, writing and reading time and then back home. Hopefully, I can avoid an afternoon nap today though it is tempting me right now.

Today I’m grateful for:

Keeping track of various things over time, with the likes of diaries, emails and archives of things that I’ve kept. 

As I was on the verge of dozing off this afternoon I wondered if it was possible to get access to my old email account, pre-2008?  The idea forced me up and though I soon discovered it was impossible I started rummaging around my old Facebook archive and then even older emails and just reading through a little of those triggered more memories. 

I could even see that I was explaining things in 1998 about something that happened ten years earlier that I have since forgotten!

The best thing about today was:

What I mention above.  It has me excited to dive further into the detritus of my life!

Something I learned today?

A burning ban is due to start on the 15th.  So everyone is getting their burning in now.  It also remains to be seen if anything is actually implemented. 

There was also a newspaper article today which describes the government asking people not to burn so much paper money and incense during Chinese New Year!

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

I think I have only spoken with two people today.  Amy and Gui.  Not much opportunity for either good or bad. 

I did nod good morning to one of the other teachers when I signed in this morning. 

I gave Tokyo her daily snack for which she is always happy. 

I also replied to an old acquaintance from Sydney who contacted me to say hello and ask for music recommendations.

25 THINGS ABOUT LIFE I WISH I HAD KNOWN 10 YEARS AGO –  14. Learn Every Day. You’ve got to train your brain to stay alert. You don’t have to read a book a day to learn every day. Learn from your mistakes. Learn from the people around you—be open to what they can teach you.

I force a lot of stuff into my brain every day and as I find answering ‘what is something I learned today’ is often difficult it seems like much doesn’t stick. 

It’s going in, adding to my overall persona (input and output) but I often find myself in a conversation where I say ‘Oh, yeah I heard about that’ but don’t have the details; or think to myself ‘I wish I could recall the things I read to keep this discussion going.’ 

At least, I’m aware and know that I still know little about anything at all.  That’s why I ask myself every day, ‘What did I learn?’

When was the last time I felt inspired?

I reckon it was last year when I first heard SpeechOdd.  I really enjoyed their music and wanted to work with them.  By the end of the year the opportunity arrived.

In general, I am inspired every day.  I try to write poetry every day and I’m always on the lookout for things that may drive that inspiration and have found a couple of regular resources to keep me inspired.