Friday 31 July 2009

Minatory

MINATORY

-adj.
Threatening or menacing.



Minatory clouds
Dancing stormy minuets.
Cicadae grumble.

Thursday 30 July 2009

Exalt

EXALT

–verb (used with object)

1. to raise in rank, honour, power, character, quality, etc.; elevate.
2. to praise; extol.
3. to stimulate, as the imagination.
4. to intensify, as a colour.
5. Obsolete. to elate, as with pride or joy.






















Bread and cake, fruits too
Their scent exalted by heat.
Grand mother's kitchen.

Wednesday 29 July 2009

Jaggery

JAGGERY

–noun
a coarse, dark sugar, esp. that made from the sap of East Indian palm trees.






















Jaggery remains
Of cakes gone by
Taunting the cook
In search for inspiration.

Tuesday 28 July 2009

Vain

VAIN

–adj.

1. excessively proud of or concerned about one's own appearance, qualities, achievements, etc.; conceited.
2. proceeding from or showing personal vanity.
3. ineffectual or unsuccessful; futile.
4. without real significance, value, or importance; baseless or worthless.
5. Archaic. senseless or foolish.






















I could try this,
A vain attempt
Describing texture, flavour and scents
Trying to make you see, taste, smell.
Folly.

Monday 27 July 2009

Lie

LIE

–verb (used without object)
1. to be in a horizontal, recumbent, or prostrate position, as on a bed or the ground; recline.
2. (of objects) to rest in a horizontal or flat position.
3. to be or remain in a position or state of inactivity, subjection, restraint, concealment, etc.
4. to rest, press, or weigh (usually fol. by on or upon).
5. to depend (usually followed by "on" or "upon").
6. to be placed or situated.
7. to be stretched out or extended.
8. to be in or have a specified direction; extend.
9. to be found or located in a particular area or place.
10.to consist or be grounded (usually followed by "in").
11.to be buried in a particular spot.
12.Law. to be sustainable or admissible, as an action or appeal.
13.Archaic. to lodge; stay the night; sojourn.
–noun
14.the manner, relative position, or direction in which something lies.
15.the haunt or covert of an animal.
16.Golf. the position of the ball relative to how easy or how difficult it is to play.






















You lie in the small of my hand,
Liquid genie trapped in a bottle
Memories of scents mingled
To evocate worlds bigger than this one.

Sunday 26 July 2009

Cursory

CURSORY

-adj.
Performed with haste and scant attention to detail; not thorough.






















She’d thrown in a cursory curse
And it went all awry:
She forgot to take care of loopholes,
And got strangled by technicalities.

Saturday 25 July 2009

Footle

FOOTLE

-ntr. verb.
1. To waste time; trifle.
2. To talk nonsense.
-noun
Nonsense; foolishness.



Twitter faces, Twitter faces
Why do you footle so?
My prose can’t be that fascinating
Why can’t you just let go?

Should I declare myself charmed
By the attention, the following
When I truly suspect other motives
Behind your cloned proffered fascination?

Twitter faces, Twitter faces
Why do you footle so?
My prose can’t be that fascinating
Why can’t you just let go?

I think I’d better let you know:
While I am sure you could be human
Maybe, perhaps, and not really a spambot
Don’t ever expect me to follow.

Twitter faces, Twitter faces
Why do you footle so?
My prose can’t be that fascinating
Why can’t you just let go?


Twitter logo and general page layout belongs to Twitter.com

Friday 24 July 2009

Indignant

INDIGNANT

-adj.
feeling, characterized by, or expressing strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting, or base






















Some indignant slugs
Declared war on the rhubarb.
Summer snack attack.

Thursday 23 July 2009

Sedulous

SEDULOUS

-adj.
1. Diligent in application or pursuit; steadily industrious.
2. Characterized by or accomplished with care and perseverance.



A sedulous rain,
Easing the heat wave from Earth.
Sparkling camelia.

Wednesday 22 July 2009

Equanimity

EQUANIMITY

-noun
Evenness of temper in all circumstances.



Despite mounting concern
We have to accept
With a minimum of equanimity
That our cats might disappear one day
And simply fail to return.

Tuesday 21 July 2009

Popple

POPPLE

-intr. verb

To move in a tossing, bubbling, or rippling manner, as choppy water.
-noun
1. Choppy water.
2.The motion or sound of boiling liquid.

-noun
Informal. A poplar




Poppy seeds
Poppling on a hot plate,
Popping.

Monday 20 July 2009

Adumbrate

ADUMBRATE

-trans. verb
1. To produce a faint image or resemblance of; to outline or sketch.
2. To prefigure indistinctly; foreshadow.
3. To suggest, indicate, or disclose partially.
4. To cast a shadow over; to shade; to obscure.




This
Place
You chose,
Marking it
As your dominion.
I can still see you adumbrate
The walls with the notion of your future departure.

Sunday 19 July 2009

Scree

SCREE

-noun
Rock debris at the base or the side of a mountain.






















Quarrels
Shook the rock hard certitudes in our love
Leaving screes in the wake
Of broken promises and lost dreams
Turning to dust.

Saturday 18 July 2009

Guise

GUISE

–noun
1. general external appearance; aspect; semblance.
2. assumed appearance or mere semblance.
3. style of dress.
4. Archaic. manner; mode.
–verb (used with object)
5. to dress; attire.
–verb (used without object)
6. Scot. and North England. to appear or go in disguise.






















Let's
Put
Ourselves
In its guise
Just for a minute:
Could it ever have – find – the time
To be bored with its preciously diminutive life?

Friday 17 July 2009

Noctilucent

NOCTILUCENT

-adj.
Luminous at night. The term is used especially to describe certain high atmospheric cloud formations visible during summer nights at high latitudes.



I
Love
Your green
Noctilucent eyes
Scanning for my dreams in the dark
Ready to pounce should they ever threaten me or mine.

Thursday 16 July 2009

Panoply

PANOPLY

-noun
1. A wide-ranging array of resources.
2. A full suit of armor.
3. A protective covering.
4. A ceremonial attire or paraphernalia.




The pantry contained a panoply of spices
Exotic trips trapped in bottles
Like so many powdered genies

Wednesday 15 July 2009

Mien

MIEN

–noun
air, bearing, or demeanour, as showing character, feeling, etc.:



He had the miens of a villain
And was crucified often enough for petty offences
Which he might - or not - have committed.
Yet underneath the crusty guise
Beat a heart made of the purest crystal
Chiming with love and compassion.

Tuesday 14 July 2009

Certitude

CERTITUDE

–noun
freedom from doubt, esp. in matters of faith or opinion; certainty.






















Sand castle
Built,
Grain after grain after grain,
Certitude grows
Pushing away doubt,
Drowned in its moat.

Monday 13 July 2009

Sanctimonious

SANCTIMONIOUS

–adj.
1. making a hypocritical show of religious devotion, piety, righteousness, etc.
2. Obsolete. holy; sacred.



A sanctimonious amount of candles and incense sticks
Failed to hide the shallowness of her creed
For deities she had - or not - grown up with.

Sunday 12 July 2009

Instill

INSTILL

–verb (used with object)

1. to infuse slowly or gradually into the mind or feelings; insinuate; inject.
2. to put in drop by drop.






















Neighbour's rooster crows
Instilling dreams of hot broth
Green scent from the vines.

Saturday 11 July 2009

Somnolent

SOMNOLENT

- adj.
1. Sleepy; drowsy.
2. Sleep-inducing.



The somnolent creature
Proved contagious
Despite the fact that
She had been hiding behind a mask

Friday 10 July 2009

Thrombosis

THROMBOSIS

noun
Pathology.
intravascular coagulation of the blood in any part of the circulatory system, as in the heart, arteries, veins, or capillaries. The obstruction of a blood vessel by a clot (thrombus) formed at the site of obstruction.






















With ghosts of planes
Still floating around in my blood
Thrombosis was a foregone conclusion

Thursday 9 July 2009

Fey

FEY

–adj.
1. British Dialect. doomed; fated to die.
2. Chiefly Scot. appearing to be under a spell; marked by an apprehension of death, calamity, or evil.
3. supernatural; unreal; enchanted: elves, fairies, and other fey creatures.
4. being in unnaturally high spirits, as were formerly thought to precede death.
5. whimsical; strange; otherworldly






















She smiles a pointy smile,
Looking in earnest, the fey creature.
She loves you to bits, she swears.
So much so that she'll have your liver for breakfast.

Wednesday 8 July 2009

Waft

WAFT

–verb (used with object)
1. to carry lightly and smoothly through the air or over water.
2. to send or convey lightly, as if in flight.
3. Obsolete. to signal to, summon, or direct by waving.
–verb (used without object)
4. to float or be carried, esp. through the air.
–noun
5. a sound, odour, etc., faintly perceived.
6. a wafting movement; light current or gust.
7. the act of wafting.
8. Nautical. a signal given by waving a flag.






















Song of the trees
Shadow scents wafting
Cicadas dream.

Tuesday 7 July 2009

Flame

FLAME

–noun
1. burning gas or vapour, as from wood or coal, that is undergoing combustion; a portion of ignited gas or vapour.
2. Often, flames. the state or condition of blazing combustion.
3. any flamelike condition; glow; inflamed condition.
4. brilliant light; scintillating lustre.
5. bright colouring; a streak or patch of colour.
6. Flame colour: bright reddish-orange.
7. intense ardour, zeal, or passion.
8. Informal. an object of one's passionate love; sweetheart
9. Computer Slang. an angry, critical, or disparaging electronic message, as an e-mail or newsgroup post.
–verb (used without object)
10.to burn with a flame or flames; burst into flames; blaze.
11.to glow like flame; shine brilliantly; flash.
12.to burn or burst forth with strong emotion; break into open anger, indignation, etc.
13.Computer Slang. to send an angry, critical, or disparaging electronic message.
–verb (used with object)
14.to subject to the action of flame or fire.
15.to flambé.
16.Computer Slang. to insult or criticize angrily in an electronic message.



Which burns the most
Of the flame
Or its shadow?

Which lights the most
Of the fire
Or the reflection?

Which memory
Is the most intense?
Which scar?

Monday 6 July 2009

Protest

PROTEST

–noun
1. an expression or declaration of objection, disapproval, or dissent, often in opposition to something a person is powerless to prevent or avoid.
2. Commerce.
a. a formal notary certificate attesting the fact that a check, note, or bill of exchange has been presented for acceptance or payment and that it has been refused.
b. the action taken to fix the liability for a dishonoured bill of exchange or note.
3. Law.
a. (upon one's payment of a tax or other state or city exaction) a formal statement disputing the legality of the demand.
b. a written and attested declaration made by the master of a ship stating the circumstances under which some damage has happened to the ship or cargo, or other circumstances involving the liability of the officers, crew, etc.
4. Sports. a formal objection or complaint made to an official.
–verb (used without object)
5. to give manifest expression to objection or disapproval; remonstrate.
6. to make solemn or earnest declaration.
–verb (used with object)
7. to make a protest or remonstrance against; object to.
8. to say in protest or remonstrance.
9. to declare solemnly or earnestly; affirm; assert.
10.to make a formal declaration of the non acceptance or non payment of (a bill of exchange or note).
11.Obsolete. to call to witness.



Protest full of teeth
But of little true impact.
A cool stone crawler.

Sunday 5 July 2009

Stranger

STRANGER

–noun
1. a person with whom one has had no personal acquaintance.
2. a newcomer in a place or locality.
3. an outsider.
4. a person who is unacquainted with or unaccustomed to something (usually followed by “to”).
5. a person who is not a member of the family, group, community, or the like, as a visitor or guest.
6. Law. one not privy or party to an act, proceeding, etc.
–adv.
7. in a strange manner























Read from your left palm
A most tantalizing threat.
Frost on your caught breath.

Saturday 4 July 2009

Assimilate

ASSIMILATE

–verb (used with object)

1. to take in and incorporate as one's own; absorb.
2. to bring into conformity with the customs, attitudes, etc., of a group, nation, or the like; adapt or adjust.
3. Physiology. to convert (food) to substances suitable for incorporation into the body and its tissues.
4. to cause to resemble (usually followed by “to” or “with”).
5. to compare; liken (usually followed by “to” or “with”).
6. Phonetics. to modify by assimilation.
–verb (used without object)
7. to be or become absorbed.
8. to conform or adjust to the customs, attitudes, etc., of a group, nation, or the like.
9. Physiology. (of food) to be converted into the substance of the body; be absorbed into the system.
10.to bear a resemblance (usually followed by “to” or “with”).
11.Phonetics. to become modified by assimilation.
–noun
12.something that is assimilated.






















Each moment a birth
Let's assimilate, join, love.
I shall sing your song.

Let's share the meal, the stories,
You will breathe my air,
I shall drink your dreams. My dreams

Friday 3 July 2009

Purlicue

PURLICUE

-noun

1. The space between the extended forefinger and thumb.
2. A flourish or curl at the end of a handwritten word. Also known as curlicue.
3. A discourse, especially its summarizing part.



I tried to decipher the message
The purlicues of honey your hand had left in the dish
Arcane whispers of love.

Thursday 2 July 2009

Lustrous

LUSTROUS

–adj.
1. having luster; shining; luminous.
2. brilliant; splendid; resplendent; illustrious



You said “chances of light showers”
And I could see
Falling in, big lustrous drops
Tainting a dark world
With glow and laughter.

Wednesday 1 July 2009

Curlicue

CURLICUE

–noun

an ornamental, fancy curl or twist, as in a signature.






















Over the meadow
Swallows drawing curlicues
Summer storms brewing