Tuesday 30 June 2009

Berth

BERTH

–noun
1. a shelf like sleeping space, as on a ship, airplane, or railroad car.
2. Nautical.
a. the space allotted to a vessel at anchor or at a wharf.
b. the distance maintained between a vessel and the shore, another vessel, or any object.
c. the position or rank of a ship's officer.
d. the cabin of a ship's officer.
3. a job; position.
4. a place, listing, or role.
–verb (used with object)
5. Nautical.
a. to allot to (a vessel) a certain space at which to anchor or tie up.
b. to bring to or install in a berth, anchorage, or moorage.
6. to provide with a sleeping space, as on a train.
–verb (used without object)
7. Nautical. to come to a dock, anchorage, or moorage.






















Let me berth in your arms
Where love lulls in gentle waves
Away from storms and furore.

Monday 29 June 2009

Sandal

SANDAL

-noun
1.A shoe consisting of a sole fastened to the foot by thongs or straps.
2.A low-cut shoe fastened to the foot by an ankle strap.
3.A rubber overshoe cut very low and covering little more than the sole of the shoe.
4.A strap or band for fastening a low shoe or slipper on the foot.
5.Sandalwood.























Such a scandal
That your sandals
Should be made of wood
Yet indifferently fragrant.

Sunday 28 June 2009

Tempt

TEMPT

–verb (used with object)
1. to entice or allure to do something often regarded as unwise, wrong, or immoral.
2. to attract, appeal strongly to, or invite.
3. to render strongly disposed to do something.
4. to put (someone) to the test in a venturesome way; provoke.
5. Obsolete. to try or test.



Tempt me.
Although it is cruel.
Tempt me
Please be my jewel
Tempt me.
Show me as a fool
Tempt me.
Lead me, be my school
Tempt me.
Let’s have that duel
Tempt me.
Please, please, please be cruel

Saturday 27 June 2009

Spoon

SPOON

–noun
1. a utensil for use in eating, stirring, measuring, ladling, etc., consisting of a small, shallow bowl with a handle.
2. any of various implements, objects, or parts resembling or suggesting this.
3. a spoonful.
4. Also called spoon bait. Angling. a lure used in casting or trolling for fish, consisting of a bright spoon-shaped piece of metal or the like, swivelled above one or more fish-hooks, and revolving as it is drawn through the water.
5. Also called number three wood. Golf. a club with a wooden head whose face has a greater slope than the brassie or driver, for hitting long, high drives from the fairway.
6. a curved piece projecting from the top of a torpedo tube to guide the torpedo horizontally and prevent it from striking the side of the ship from which it was fired.
–verb (used with object)
7. to eat with, take up, or transfer in or as in a spoon.
8. to hollow out or shape like a spoon.
9. Games.
a. to push or shove (a ball) with a lifting motion instead of striking it soundly, as in croquet or golf.
b. to hit (a ball) up in the air, as in cricket.
10.Informal. to show affection or love toward by kissing and caressing, esp. in an openly sentimental manner.
–verb (used without object)
11.Informal. to show affection or love by kissing and caressing, esp. in an openly sentimental manner.
12.Games. to spoon a ball.
13.Angling. to fish with a spoon.






















Looking at your reflection in the spoon
To avoid your eyes
I trace the curve in search of a cuddle

Friday 26 June 2009

Bought

BOUGHT

-noun
1. A flexure; a bend; a twist; a turn; a coil, as in a rope; as the boughts of a serpent.
2. The part of a sling that contains the stone.



She gathers them all:
The stares –- sorrow, reproaches
The glares -- bitterness
The absent ones -- denial
Unique collection
Twisting them in awkward boughts
Hung about your neck,
Sucking your breath and light in
Crafted silences
A loud statement in the room

Thursday 25 June 2009

Stray

STRAY

–verb (used without object)

1. to deviate from the direct course, leave the proper place, or go beyond the proper limits, esp. without a fixed course or purpose; ramble.
2. to wander; roam.
3. to go astray; deviate, as from a moral, religious, or philosophical course.
4. to digress or become distracted.
–noun
5. a domestic animal found wandering at large or without an owner.
6. any homeless or friendless person or animal.
7. a person or animal that strays.
8. strays, Radio. static
–adj.
9. straying or having strayed, as a domestic animal.
10.found or occurring apart from others or as an isolated or casual instance; incidental or occasional.
11.Radio. undesired



Only you would:
Light the world
Look into the corners for any stray darkness
Look into a mirror for any stray darkness
Look into your heart for any stray darkness
Move the light to a better place

Wednesday 24 June 2009

Mottle

MOTTLE

–verb (used with object)
1. to mark or diversify with spots or blotches of a different colour or shade.
–noun
2. a diversifying spot or blotch of colour.
3. mottled colouring or pattern.



I've been having banana dreams,
Mottled soft things with a pungent smell
Full of sarcastic reptiles
And fruit flies.

Tuesday 23 June 2009

Bough

BOUGH

–noun
a branch of a tree, especially one of the larger or main branches.



Hold me.
Let me hide
In the boughs of your tree
Get under the bark
Where your soul flows
So I can make myself at home.

Vintage beauty courtesy of inspyretash-stock at DeviantArt

Monday 22 June 2009

Exorable

EXORABLE

-adj.
Capable of being persuaded or moved.






















Kitten plea.
Although my heart was exorable
Common sense dictated inertia.

Sunday 21 June 2009

Bewail

BEWAIL

-verb
regret strongly























Dreaming of the years
You bewail lost time, lost love,
Opportunities;
Alternative lives that went;
Fruits dead on the tree, unpicked.

Saturday 20 June 2009

Arraign

ARRAIGN

–verb (used with object)
1. to call or bring before a court to answer to an indictment.
2. to accuse or charge in general; criticize adversely; censure.























For harmful neglect
The drying plant arraigns us
Snails chuckling softly.

Friday 19 June 2009

Chime

CHIME

–noun
1. an apparatus for striking a bell so as to produce a musical sound, as one at the front door of a house by which visitors announce their presence.
2. Often, chimes.
a. a set of bells or of slabs of metal, stone, wood, etc., producing musical tones when struck.
b. a musical instrument consisting of such a set, esp. a glockenspiel.
c. the musical tones thus produced.
d. carillon.
3. harmonious sound in general; music; melody.
4. harmonious relation; accord.
–verb (used without object)
5. to sound harmoniously or in chimes, as a set of bells.
6. to produce a musical sound by striking a bell, gong, etc.; ring chimes.
7. to speak in cadence or singsong.
8. to harmonize; agree.
–verb (used with object)
9. to give forth (music, sound, etc.), as a bell or bells.
10.to strike (a bell, set of bells, etc.) so as to produce musical sound.
11.to put, bring, indicate, announce, etc., by chiming.
12.to utter or repeat in cadence or singsong



Her laughter chimed a strange melody in his heart,
A vibration that would hew cracks of light in dark matter
Singing softly to lure him in.

Thursday 18 June 2009

Megrim

MEGRIM

-noun
1. A migraine.
2. A fancy; a whim.
3. In the plural: lowness of spirits -- often with 'the'.



Lying in the dark,
Megrim painting painful tendrils in his brain
Ache lacerations tingling
Agonizing chimes.

Wednesday 17 June 2009

Planh

PLANH

–noun
a Provençal elegiac poem, often sung at funeral (also: plaing)



Under his distracted fingers,
The guitar produced a soft lament,
A medieval planh singing the grace of love departed.

Tuesday 16 June 2009

Aposematic

APOSEMATIC

–adj.
(zoology)
Coloured or constructed in a way that indicates special capabilities for defence.



The aposematic allure of my dress
Was just a red flag to him.
Grey phantom.

Picture of grey phantom by C. Tirabassi

Monday 15 June 2009

Verify

VERIFY

–verb (used with object)
1. to prove the truth of, as by evidence or testimony; confirm; substantiate.
2. to ascertain the truth or correctness of, as by examination, research, or comparison.
3. to act as ultimate proof or evidence of; serve to confirm.
4. Law.
a. to prove or confirm (an allegation).
b. to state to be true, esp. in legal use, formally or upon oath.



I check and check and check
Verifying any suspicious spelling
Pesky typos still getting through

No need for despair, this isn’t yet a wreck
But for my red pen’s furious yelling
It’s just a phrase I’m going through.

Sunday 14 June 2009

Tact

TACT

-noun
1 : sensitive mental or aesthetic perception
2 : a keen sense of what to do or say in order to maintain good relations with others or avoid offence






















It isn’t true that cats aren’t capable of tact.
They can and do have the ability to feel the various sensitive aspects of a situation.
Most of the time, they just choose to ignore this as mere nonsense.
Life is short, after all.
And cuddles or food or play or snooze are far more important than what we consider crucial.

Saturday 13 June 2009

Widgeon

WIDGEON

-noun
1. any of several common freshwater ducks related to the mallards and teals in the genus Anas, having metallic green flight feathers, a white wing patch, and a buff or white forehead, including A. penelope of Eurasia and North Africa, A. sibilatrix of South America, and the baldpate, A. americana, of North America.
2. Obsolete. a fool.




She fluttered about,
A widgeon lost without poles
Or a weather cock.

Friday 12 June 2009

Cinder

CINDER

–noun
1. a partially or mostly burned piece of coal, wood, etc.
2. cinders,
a. any residue of combustion; ashes.
b. Geology. coarse scoriae erupted by volcanoes.
3. a live, flameless coal; ember.
4. Metallurgy.
a. the more or less completely fused and vitrified matter separated during the reduction of a metal from its ore. (also: slag)
b. a mixture of ashes and slag.
–verb (used with object)
5. to spread cinders on.
6. Archaic. to reduce to cinders.
–verb (used without object)
7. to spread cinders on a surface, as a road or sidewalk



I shall burn your shadow
So you won't haunt my dreams any more
Watching it flare up
And twist,
And hiss,
Cinders and sparkles flying off
Smoke sickly sweet
On my tongue.
Liquorice.
Its ashes I shall rub on my forehead
As a warning to all ghosts:
Here's one that walks alone.
Now
And ever.

Thursday 11 June 2009

Sear

SEAR

-verb
Burn slightly and superficially so as to affect colour.






















You could see anguish
Sear her placid soul just so
In patent symptoms:
By the flaming of her cheeks,
Sudden dryness in her throat.

Wednesday 10 June 2009

Plangent

PLANGENT

-adj.
1.Loud and resounding
2.Expressing or suggesting sadness; plaintive



Plangent fog crawling
Switching off life as it goes.
Void booming in vain.

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Key

KEY

–noun
1. a small metal instrument specially cut to fit into a lock and move its bolt.
2. any of various devices resembling or functioning as a key.
3. something that affords a means of access: the key to happiness.
4. something that secures or controls entrance to a place.
5. something that affords a means of clarifying a problem.
6. a book, pamphlet, or other text containing the solutions or translations of material given elsewhere, as testing exercises.
7. a systematic explanation of abbreviations, symbols, etc., used in a dictionary, map, etc.
8. the system, method, pattern, etc., used to decode or decipher a cryptogram, as a code book, machine setting, or key word.
9. one of a set of marked parts, designated areas, or levers pressed in operating a typewriter, computer terminal, calculator, etc.
10.a manually operated lever for opening and closing an electric circuit, used to produce signals in telegraphy.
11.Music.
a. (in a keyboard instrument) one of the levers that when depressed by the performer sets in motion the playing mechanism.
b. (on a woodwind instrument) a metal lever that opens and closes a vent.
c. the relationship perceived between all tones in a given unit of music and a single tone or a keynote; tonality.
d. the principal tonality of a composition: a symphony in the key of C minor.
e. the keynote or tonic of a scale.
12.tone or pitch, as of voice.
13.mood or characteristic style, as of expression or thought.
14.degree of intensity, as of feeling or action.
15.a pin, bolt, wedge, or other piece inserted in a hole or space to lock or hold parts of a mechanism or structure together; a cotter.
16.a small piece of steel fitting into matching slots of a hub of a wheel or the like and the shaft on which the wheel is mounted so that torque is transmitted from one to the other.
17.a contrivance for grasping and turning a bolt, nut, etc.
18.Computers. a field or group of characters within a record that identifies the record, establishing its position among sorted records, and/or provides information about its contents.
19.(in a series of advertisements or announcements soliciting replies) a unique code inserted for each medium used, to determine the relative effectiveness of the media.
20.Electricity.
a. a device for opening and closing electrical contacts.
b.a hand-operated switching device ordinarily formed of concealed spring contacts with an exposed handle or push button, capable of switching one or more parts of a circuit.
21.Biology. a systematic tabular classification of the significant characteristics of the members of a group of organisms to facilitate identification and comparison.
22.Masonry. a keystone.
23.Architecture. (in a ribbed vault) a stone, as a boss, at the intersection of two or more ribs.
24.Masonry, Carpentry. a wedge, as for tightening a joint or splitting a stone or timber.
25.Carpentry. a small piece of wood set into a timber across the grain to prevent warping.
26.Building Trades. any grooving or roughness applied to a surface to improve its bond with another surface.
27.Photography. the dominant tonal value of a picture, a high-key picture having light tonal values and minimal contrast and a low-key picture being generally dark with minimal contrast.
28.Painting. the tonal value and intensity of a colour or range of colours.
29.Botany. a Samara.
30.(initial capital letter) a member of the House of Keys.
31.keys, spiritual authority.
–adj.
32.chief; major; important; essential; fundamental; pivotal.
–verb (used with object)
33.to regulate or adjust (actions, thoughts, speech, etc.) to a particular state or activity; bring into conformity.
34.Music. to regulate the key or pitch of.
35.Painting.
a. to paint (a picture) in a given key.
b. to adjust the colours in (a painting) to a particular hue.
36.to fasten, secure, or adjust with a key, wedge, or the like, as parts of a mechanism.
37.to provide with a key.
38.(in the layout of newspapers, magazines, etc.) to identify, through signs or symbols, the positions of illustrations or pieces of copy in a dummy.
39.to lock with or as if with a key.
40.Masonry. to provide (an arch or vault) with a keystone.
–verb (used without object)
41.to use a key.





The thief of Time has many keys

Monday 8 June 2009

Fortune

FORTUNE

–noun
1. position in life as determined by wealth.
2. wealth or riches.
3. great wealth; ample stock of money, property, and the like.
4. chance; luck.
5. fortunes. things that happen or are to happen to a person in his or her life.
6. fate; lot; destiny.
7. (initial capital letter ) chance personified, commonly regarded as a mythical being distributing arbitrarily or capriciously the lots of life.
8. good luck; success; prosperity.
9. Archaic. a wealthy woman; an heiress.
–verb (used with object)
10.Archaic. to endow (someone or something) with a fortune.
–verb (used without object)
11. Archaic. to chance or happen; come by chance.



Fortune in her hand
Told of the strangest tale yet
A tall dark stranger,
Travels, children, and money…
But why the violin and ducks?

Sunday 7 June 2009

Decussate

DECUSSATE

-verb tr.
To intersect or to cross.




Eaten by time,
Missing intersections
Fail to decussate.

Saturday 6 June 2009

Tattoo

TATTOO

–noun
1. a signal on a drum, bugle, or trumpet at night, for soldiers or sailors to go to their quarters.
2. a knocking or strong pulsation.
3. British. an outdoor military pageant or display.
–noun
1. the act or practice of marking the skin with indelible patterns, pictures, legends, etc., by making punctures in it and inserting pigments.
2. a pattern, picture, legend, etc., so made.
–verb (used with object)
3. to mark (the skin) with tattoos.
4. to put (tattoos) on the skin.



I trace memories on your skin,
Along the path of disappeared tattoos,
Their secret message dormant;
Invisible ink waiting to be revealed:
Milk and honey dragons, playing with pearls.

Vintage beauty courtesy of inspyretash-stock at DeviantArt

Friday 5 June 2009

Undaunted

UNDAUNTED

-adj.
1.undismayed; not discouraged; not forced to abandon purpose or effort.
2.Undiminished in courage or valour; not giving way to fear; intrepid



Undaunted by the task at hand,
Ants go about their business
With high hopes of transporting
A whole flower into their lair.

Thursday 4 June 2009

Syllable

SYLLABLE

–noun
1. an uninterrupted segment of speech consisting of a centre of relatively great sonority with or without one or more accompanying sounds of relatively less sonority.
2. one or more written letters or characters representing more or less exactly such an element of speech.
3. the slightest portion or amount of speech or writing; the least mention.
–verb (used with object)
4. to utter in syllables; articulate.
5. to represent by syllables.
–verb (used without object)
6. to utter syllables; speak.




Counting on fingers
For syllables that escaped
Wings flapping madly.

Wednesday 3 June 2009

Award

AWARD

–verb (used with object)
1. to give as due or merited; assign or bestow: to award prizes.
2. to bestow by judicial decree; assign or appoint by deliberate judgement, as in arbitration.
–noun
3. something awarded, as a payment or medal.
4. Law.
a. a decision after consideration; a judicial sentence.
b. the decision of arbitrators on a matter submitted to them.



Many thanks for the award,
For a task which is a pleasure,
A marvel in each word.

This blog received a Kreativ Blogger Award from Jientje.


The associated rules are to name seven things you like
And to nominate seven other blogs for the award, thus spreading the love.

Now I had problems enough restricting the list of blogs to seven:

I can't be that selective for things I love.
If you are desperately curious, a few crushes are listed there.

Tuesday 2 June 2009

Accismus

ACCISMUS

-noun
feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it



The diva suffers from acute accismus
She travels incognito
But she calls journalists to let them know.

Monday 1 June 2009

Guerdon

GUERDON

-noun

a reward, recompense, or requital
-verb (used with object)
to give a guerdon to; reward




Spring
Brings
Its own guerdon
Intemperance smiled over.