Imprimatur

IMPRIMATUR

-noun
1. Approval or authority; imprint.
2. A license to print or publish, especially one issued by a censor of the Roman Catholic Church.
















Nature needs no imprimatur
To publish its song of autumn
All over the lawn.

Comstockery

COMSTOCKERY

-noun
Overzealous censorship of material considered obscene.






















Centuries raged on,
Inflicting Comstockery on frescoed beauties
And fragile sculpted attributes.

Steam

STEAM

–noun
1. water in the form of an invisible gas or vapour.
2. water changed to this form by boiling, extensively used for the generation of mechanical power, for heating purposes, etc.
3. the mist formed when the gas or vapour from boiling water condenses in the air.
4. an exhalation of a vapour or mist.
5. Informal. power or energy.
–verb (used without object)
6. to emit or give off steam or vapour.
7. to rise or pass off in the form of steam or vapour.
8. to become covered with condensed steam, as a window or other surface (often followed by “up”).
9. to generate or produce steam, as in a boiler.
10.to move or travel by the agency of steam.
11.to move rapidly or evenly: He steamed out of the room.
12.Informal. to be angry or show anger.
–verb (used with object)
13.to expose to or treat with steam, as in order to heat, cook, soften, renovate, or the like.
14.to emit or exhale (steam or vapour).
15.Slang. to cause to become irked or angry (often followed by “up”).
16.to convey by the agency of steam.
–adjective
17.heated by or heating with steam.
18.propelled by or propelling with a steam engine.
19.operated by steam.
20.conducting steam.
21.bathed with or affected by steam.
22.of or pertaining to steam.
























Hot chai in the rain,
Wafting exotic steam ghosts.
Solace for my pains.

Lurry

LURRY

-noun
A confused heap; a throng, as of persons; a jumble, as of sounds.

























Here
Conflagration of centuries
Causes a lurry of buildings
A sacred chaos of temples
Where cats now roam free.

Chameleon

CHAMELEON

–noun
1. any of numerous Old World lizards of the family Chamaeleontidae, characterized by the ability to change the colour of their skin, very slow locomotion, and a projectile tongue.
2. any of several American lizards capable of changing the colour of the skin, esp. Anolis carolinensis (American chameleon), of the southeastern U.S.
3. a changeable, fickle, or inconstant person.
4. Astronomy. Chamaeleon: a small southern constellation between Musca and Hydrus.



Chameleon leaf
Confused by autumn changes.
Warm sun on my bones.

Cleave

CLEAVE

–verb (used without object)
1. to adhere closely; stick; cling (usually followed by “to”).
2. to remain faithful (usually followed by “to”).

–verb (used with object)
1. to split or divide by or as if by a cutting blow, especially along a natural line of division, as the grain of wood.
2. to make by or as if by cutting: to cleave a path through the wilderness.
3. to penetrate or pass through (air, water, etc.).
4. to cut off; sever: to cleave a branch from a tree.
–verb (used without object)
5. to part or split, especially along a natural line of division.
6. to penetrate or advance by or as if by cutting (usually followed by “through”).



The leaves cleaved to the branch
Lest they might be cleft by autumn winds
Obstinacy in the face of season.
In the face of reason.

Pasquinade

PASQUINADE

-noun
A satire or lampoon, especially one displayed in a public place.























Pasquinades around the city
Testimony to Romans’ taste for sarcasm
With or without Pasquino’s help.

Pleiad

PLEIAD

-noun
A group of (usually seven) brilliant persons or things.




Seven star sisters
Dancing across the ether.
Twinkling Pleiad smile.
An arrow straight to your heart,
Breath robbing light from afar.

Pleiad image courtesy of NASA.

Rivulet

RIVULET

–noun
a small stream; streamlet; brook.






















Precious rivulets
Cooling off a warm city.
Surprise crocodile

Fog

FOG

–noun
1. a cloud-like mass or layer of minute water droplets or ice crystals near the surface of the earth, appreciably reducing visibility.
2. any darkened state of the atmosphere, or the diffused substance that causes it.
3. a state of mental confusion or unawareness; daze; stupor.
4. Photography. a hazy effect on a developed negative or positive, caused by light other than that forming the image, by improper handling during development, or by the use of excessively old film.
5. Physical Chemistry. a mixture consisting of liquid particles dispersed in a gaseous medium.
–verb (used with object)
6. to cover or envelop with or as if with fog.
7. to confuse or obscure.
8. to bewilder or perplex.
9. Photography. to produce fog on (a negative or positive).
–verb (used without object)
10.to become enveloped or obscured with or as if with fog.
11.Photography. (of a negative or positive) to become affected by fog.

–noun
1. a second growth of grass, as after mowing.
2. long grass left standing in fields during the winter.























I seek the faintest trace of fog
On the mirror,
A sign you might still be there,
That you still thrive and sigh,
Measured in wisps of vapour,
In faint feeble heartbeats.

But the mirror does not collaborate,
Stubborn,
Refusing to reflect life's shadow,
To bear ghosts and witness,
Pristine in its defiance,
The statement all too clear.

Russet

RUSSET

–noun
1. yellowish brown, light brown, or reddish brown.
2. a coarse reddish-brown or brownish homespun cloth formerly used for clothing.
3. any of various apples that have a rough brownish skin and ripen in the autumn.
4. a brownish, roughened area on fruit, resulting from diseases, insects, or spraying.
5. Russet Burbank: a brown-skinned, oblong potato having a mealy flesh with high starch content.
6. finished leather that is not yet polished or coloured.
–adj.
7. yellowish-brown, light-brown, or reddish-brown.
8. made of russet.



Warm russet colours
Set by sun on bricks and wood.
Earthly holy tones

Lugubrious

LUGUBRIOUS

-adj.
Mournful, gloomy, depressive, doleful.



In the main hall,
A lugubrious fresco
Remembering those cheated of a future,
In hope it won't happen again.

Aglow

AGLOW

–adj.
glowing























Kiss of sun,
Setting stones aglow.
Cool crisp air.

Chanterelle

CHANTERELLE

–noun
1.An edible mushroom (Cantharellus cibarius) that is yellow to orange in colour, trumpet-shaped, and sometimes fragrant. Also called “finferli”, from the German.
2.Any of various similar or related mushrooms of the genera Cantharellus, Polyozellus, and Gomphus, several of which are inedible or poisonous.























Cool beer in glass,
Chanterelles singing in plates.
Golden autumn song.

Crouch

CROUCH

–verb (used without object)
1. to stoop or bend low.
2. to bend close to the ground, as an animal preparing to spring or shrinking with fear.
3. to bow or stoop servilely; cringe.
–verb (used with object)
4. to bend low.
–noun
5. the act of crouching.
























I am a giant,
Broken on those stones.
Crouching morning light.

Drone

DRONE

–noun
1. the male of the honeybee and other bees, stingless and making no honey.
2. a remote control mechanism, as a radio-controlled airplane or boat.
3. a person who lives on the labor of others; parasitic loafer.
4. a drudge.

–verb (used without object)
1. to make a dull, continued, low, monotonous sound; hum; buzz.
2. to speak in a monotonous tone.
3. to proceed in a dull, monotonous manner (usually followed by “on”).
–verb (used with object)
4. to say in a dull, monotonous tone.
–noun
5. Music.
a. a continuous low tone produced by the bass pipes or bass strings of musical instruments.
b. the pipes (esp. of the bagpipe) or strings producing this tone.
c. a bagpipe equipped with such pipes.
6. a monotonous low tone; humming or buzzing sound.
7. a person who speaks in a monotonous tone.























Lecture droning on
A travel back to school years.
Low light on the wall.

Collop

COLLOP

-noun
1. A small portion of food or a slice, especially of meat.
2. A roll of fat flesh.



Collops in my pan
Or on my plate
Cooked they are “straccetti”
Raw, mere “carpaccio”

Thirst

THIRST

–noun
1. a sensation of dryness in the mouth and throat caused by need of liquid.
2. the physical condition resulting from this need, in any of various degrees.
3. strong or eager desire; craving.
–verb (used without object)
4. to feel thirst; be thirsty.
5. to have a strong desire.



Thirst in the eyes that fail to see
Drinking shadows for a soul
Or anything
That might make them blink
Just one more time.
That one last time.

Sever

SEVER

–verb (used with object)
1. to separate (a part) from the whole, as by cutting or the like.
2. to divide into parts, esp. forcibly; cleave.
3. to break off or dissolve (ties, relations, etc.).
4. Law. to divide into parts; disunite (an estate, titles of a statute, etc.).
5. to distinguish; discriminate between.
–verb (used without object)
6. to become separated from each other; become divided into parts.



The odd dead flower
Mourned yet severed from affection
Its memory too painful to be born
Seething anger.

Fatuous

FATUOUS

–adj.
1. foolish or inane, esp. in an unconscious, complacent manner; silly.
2. unreal; illusory.






















Pristine elegance
All too fatuous splendour.
For a mere barnyard

Fastuous

FASTUOUS

–adj.
1. haughty; arrogant.
2. showy; ostentatious.






















Fastuous silver
Gone venerable with age
Feeble and stained
In beloved hands.

Plunder

PLUNDER

–verb (used with object)
1. to rob of goods or valuables by open force, as in war, hostile raids, brigandage, etc.
2. to rob, despoil, or fleece.
3. to take wrongfully, as by pillage, robbery, or fraud.
–verb (used without object)
4. to take plunder; pillage.
–noun
5. plundering, pillage, or spoliation.
6. that which is taken in plundering; loot.
7. anything taken by robbery, theft, or fraud.






















They came
In scarlet and plundered gold
Staring at autumn in the teeth
Shaking limbs.

Weary

WEARY

–adj.
1. physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain, etc.; fatigued; tired.
2. characterized by or causing fatigue.
3. impatient or dissatisfied with something (often followed by “of”).
4. characterized by or causing impatience or dissatisfaction; tedious; irksome.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
5. to make or become weary; fatigue or tire:.
6. to make or grow impatient or dissatisfied with something or at having too much of something (often followed by “of”)






















The weary task
Ate at his bones and marrow
Until his soul was free
To finally fly away.

Butterfly courtesy of JoesSistah.

Wary

WARY

–adj.
1. watchful; being on one's guard against danger.
2. arising from or characterized by caution



A wary figure
Stepping out of a nightmare
Warning all from disaster
A mad look in the eyes.

Celadon

CELADON

–noun
1. any of several Chinese porcelains having a translucent, pale green glaze.
2. any porcelain imitating these.
3. a pale gray-green.
–adj.
4. having the colour celadon.






















Shining
Tender
Shades
Celadon and rose cups
Steaming in the rain.

Tenuous

TENUOUS

–adj.
1. thin or slender in form, as a thread.
2. lacking a sound basis, as reasoning; unsubstantiated; weak.
3. thin in consistency; rare or rarefied.
4. of slight importance or significance; unsubstantial.
5. lacking in clarity; vague






















Tenuous patter,
Golden tears on ochre tiles.
Rain falls on tea cup.

Rose

ROSE

–noun
1. any of the wild or cultivated, usually prickly-stemmed, pinnate-leaved, showy-flowered shrubs of the genus Rosa.
2. any of various related or similar plants.
3. the flower of any such shrub, of a red, pink, white, or yellow colour.
4. the traditional reddish colour of this flower, variously a purplish red, pinkish red, or light crimson.
5. an ornament shaped like or suggesting this flower.
6. a pink or pinkish-red colour in the cheek.
7. rose window.
8. Heraldry. a representation of a wild rose with five petals, usually seeded and barbed in a symmetrical design and used esp. as the cadency mark of a seventh son.
9. any of various diagrams showing directions radiating from a common centre, as a compass card or wind rose.
10.Jewellery.
a. an obsolete gem style or cut, flat on the bottom and having an upper side with from 12, or fewer, to 32 triangular facets.
b. a gem with this cut.
11.a perforated cap or plate, as at the end of a pipe or the spout of a watering pot, to break a flow of water into a spray.
12.an ornamental plate or socket surrounding the shaft of a doorknob at the face of a door.
13.Mathematics. a plane polar curve consisting of three or more equal loops that meet at the origin. Equation: r = a sin(nθ) or r = a cos(nθ).
–adj.
14.of the colour rose.
15.for, containing, or growing roses.
16.scented like a rose.
–verb (used with object)
17.to make rose-coloured.
18.to flush (the face, cheeks, etc.).






















The artist threw in a rose
For weary winds
That might have strayed to far from home
Getting lost on the way.

Dearth

DEARTH

–noun
1. an inadequate supply; scarcity; lack.
2. scarcity and dearness of food; famine.



A dearth of mirth had taken its toll on the land
Leaving it gasping for water, for air, for life.

Riparian

RIPARIAN

-adj.
1.Of or pertaining to the bank of a river or stream.






















Riparian curves
Snaking, lazy in the grass.
Chicks learning to fly.

Bap

BAP

-noun
A soft, round bread roll.






















Making baps
While you nap
Waking up to warm scent.