Aleatory

ALEATORY

–adj.
1. Law . depending on a contingent event.
2. of or pertaining to accidental causes; of luck or chance; unpredictable.
3. Music . employing the element of chance in the choice of tones, rests, durations, rhythms, dynamics, etc.




Aleatory dreams
Billowing beneath the surface
Glazed his eyes over
Sculpting lions in his mane.

Excerpt

EXCERPT

–noun
1. a passage or quotation taken or selected from a book, document, film, or the like; extract.
–verb (used with object)
2. to take or select (a passage) from a book, film, or the like; extract.
3. to take or select passages from (a book, film, or the like); abridge by choosing representative sections.



History made excerpts
Of its own story
To puzzle historians
And dreamers alike.

Selkie

SELKIE

–noun
Scot.
a mythical creature that looks like a seal in water but assumes human form on land.



Here we are
Looking into each other’s minds
The selkie who has forgotten about being human
The human who has forgotten about being a seal
Land and water locked
By a moment’s mind lapse
Yet her eye is my eye
And my heart beat is hers by right

Counterfoil

COUNTERFOIL

–noun
Chiefly British .
a part of a bank check, money order, etc., that is kept by the issuer and on which a record of the transaction is made; stub.




Broken ruins
History counterfoil
Or puzzle?

Enervate

ENERVATE

–verb (used with object)
1. to deprive of force or strength; destroy the vigour of; weaken.
–adj.
2. without vigour, force, or strength; languid.




Moss.
Moss
And Time
Green sickness
Enervating stones,
Statues, into languid poses.

Oscitant

OSCITANT

-adj.
1. Yawning, as with drowsiness; gaping.
2. Drowsy or inattentive.
3. Dull, lazy, or negligent.






















Oscitant macaque
Makes for grooming
(Or snacking)
Opportunity

Crumb

CRUMB

–noun
1. a small particle of bread, cake, etc., that has broken off.
2. a small particle or portion of anything; fragment; bit.
3. the soft inner portion of a bread ( distinguished from crust).
4. crumbs, a cake topping made of sugar, flour, butter, and spice, usually crumbled on top of the raw batter and baked with the cake.
5. Slang . a contemptibly objectionable or worthless person.
–verb (used with object)
6. Cookery . to dress or prepare with crumbs.
7. to break into crumbs or small fragments.
8. to remove crumbs from




I have learnt
To scrub my memory
For crumbs of our story
Shaking them loose
To be lost to the drafts of times


The background picture is copyright of Willow of Willow Manor, who has put it forth as a writing prompt.
Join the writing fun at Magpie Tales.

Pluvial

PLUVIAL

-adj.
Of or relating to rain, especially much rain.






















Pluvial
Lime deposit
Bitter cries history
Scribbling stories over the stones
For keep.

Virga

VIRGA

-noun
Rain or snow that evaporates before hitting the ground.




Let's get
Soaked in ghost rain
Virga that teases our lips
And then deserts us
Leaving plants
Gasping for life

Blank

BLANK

–adj.
1. (of paper or other writing surface) having no marks; not written or printed on.
2. not filled in, as a printed form.
3. unrelieved or unbroken by ornament, opening, decoration, etc.
4. lacking some usual or completing feature.
5. (of a recording medium) containing no previously recorded information.
6. void of interest, variety, results, etc.
7. showing no attention, interest, or emotion.
8. disconcerted; nonplussed; speechless.
9. complete; utter; unmitigated.
10.Archaic . white; pale; colourless.
–noun
11.a place where something is lacking; an empty space.
12.a space in a printed form, test, etc., to be filled in.
13.a printed form containing such spaces.
14.a dash put in place of an omitted letter, series of letters, etc., especially to avoid writing a word considered profane or obscene.
15.Metalworking . a piece of metal ready to be drawn, pressed, or machined into a finished object.
16.Archery . the bull's-eye.
17.the object toward which anything is directed; aim; target.
18.blank cartridge.
–verb (used with object)
19.to cross out or delete, especially in order to invalidate or void (usually followed by “out” ).
20.Informal . to keep (an opponent) from scoring in a game.
21.Metalworking . to stamp or punch out of flat stock, as with a die.



I went to take a write
On a smooth blank sheet
But smoothness can be deceptive:
It swallowed me whole.
On white, no one will see me scream.

Philippic

PHILIPPIC

-noun
A bitter condemnation, usually in a speech.






















Lemur
Philippics
Come out full of teeth
And spit

Vagary

VAGARY

–noun
1.an unpredictable or erratic action, occurrence, course, or instance.
2.a whimsical, wild, or unusual idea, desire, or action.






















Vagaries would have it
Thus
A blowing of raspberries
As a mark of impertinence
To me
Just a waste of delights

Taxis

TAXIS

-noun
1. Movement of an organism towards or away from a stimulus.
2. Order, arrangement, or classification.
3. The manual repositioning of a displaced body part to its normal position, in a case of hernia, for example.






















Taxis
Is nonsense to her:
While she's supposed to be
An elegant creature
She chooses
Otherwise.

Callipygian

CALLIPYGIAN

–adj.
having well-shaped buttocks.























A callipygian crowd
At Stadio dei Marmi
Speaks of fascist love
For male anatomy.

Induction

INDUCTION

–noun
1. the act of inducing, bringing about, or causing.
2. the act of inducting; introduction; initiation.
3. formal installation in an office, benefice, or the like.
4. Logic.
a. any form of reasoning in which the conclusion, though supported by the premises, does not follow from them necessarily.
b. the process of estimating the validity of observations of part of a class of facts as evidence for a proposition about the whole class.
c. a conclusion reached by this process.
5. Also called mathematical induction. Mathematics. a method of proving a given property true for a set of numbers by proving it true for 1 and then true for an arbitrary positive integer by assuming the property true for all previous positive integers and applying the principle of mathematical induction.
6. a presentation or bringing forward, as of facts or evidence.
7. Electricity, Magnetism. the process by which a body having electric or magnetic properties produces magnetism, an electric charge, or an electromotive force in a neighbouring body without contact.
8. Embryology. the process or principle by which one part of the embryo influences the differentiation of another part.
9. Biochemistry. the synthesis of an enzyme in response to an increased concentration of its substrate in the cell.
10.an introductory unit in literary work, especially in an early play; prelude or scene independent of the main performance but related to it.
11.Archaic. a preface.
























Call it lust
Call it love
Call it induction if you must
Call it lust

Cashier

CASHIER

-verb trans.
To dismiss from service, especially with disgrace.
-noun
An employee who handles payments and receipts in a store, bank, or business.
























Stricken angel
Cashiered from service
All beauty stripped
By acid rains.

Fission

FISSION

–noun
1. the act of cleaving or splitting into parts.
2. Also called nuclear fission. Physics. the splitting of the nucleus of an atom into nuclei of lighter atoms, accompanied by the release of energy.
3. Biology. the division of an organism into new organisms as a process of reproduction.
–verb (used without object)
4. Physics. to undergo fission.
–verb (used with object)
5. Physics. to cause to undergo fission.























Fission at such cleft
Making blood run hot
A thermal storm
Raging through my system
Until age sets in.

Brindled

BRINDLED

–adj.
grey or tawny with darker streaks or spots.























Brindled love
Lounging in the sun
Dolce vita

Gule

GULE

-noun
The throat; the gullet.
-verb trans.
To give the colour of gules to.























A lovely bite
Pleasures the gule
And the eye alike.

Tine

TINE

–noun
a sharp, projecting point or prong, as of a fork.



Sounded the tine
Against my keyboard
For a tune.
It turned out that C
Had a çédille.

Vibrissa

VIBRISSA

-noun
1. one of the stiff hairs that are located especially about the nostrils or on other parts of the face in many mammals and that often serve as tactile organs
2. one of the bristly feathers near the mouth of many and especially insectivorous birds that may help to prevent the escape of insects


























He’d
Let
Them out
One by one
All his vibrissae
Fanned out around his sleeping face
Reading vibrations from a ghost or a lurking prey.

Murder

MURDER

-noun
1. The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice.
2. Slang Something that is very uncomfortable, difficult, or hazardous.
3. A flock of crows.
-verb trans.
1. To kill (another human) unlawfully.
2. To kill brutally or inhumanly.
3. To put an end to; destroy.
4. To spoil by ineptness; mutilate.
5. Slang To defeat decisively; trounce.
-verb intr.
To commit murder.






















Murder, she said
Is a game of crows
Flying above a shallow grave
Trying to pick bones
Or a fight.

Tabby

TABBY

-noun
1. A domestic cat with a striped or brindled coat.
2. A domestic cat, especially a female one.
3. A spinster.
4. A spiteful or gossipy woman.
5. A fabric of plain weave.
6. A watered silk fabric.
7. A building material made of lime, oyster shells, and gravel.























A tabby but not a tabby
Yet a tabby (such a tabby too!)
But not a tabby, nor a tabby.
If pushed by neccessity,
She might use a tabby
(but a tabby she is not)

Fructuous

FRUCTUOUS

-adj.
Fruitful






















Collecting money?
Collecting sunshine?
At least one of these ventures
Is bound to be fructuous.

Osculate

OSCULATE

–verb (used without object)
1. to come into close contact or union.
2. Geometry. (of a curve) to touch another curve or another part of the same curve so as to have the same tangent and curvature at the point of contact.
–verb (used with object)
3. to bring into close contact or union.
4. Geometry. (of a curve) to touch (another curve or another part of the same curve) in osculation.
5. to kiss.






















In their clumsy
Yet ardent attempt
At osculating,
The lovers created light
And heat
Their own sun

Whilom

WHILOM

-adj.
former






















Others,
Whilom lovers,
Used those keys
Trying to find a way
Into eternal life.

Countenance

COUNTENANCE

–noun
1. appearance, especially the look or expression of the face
2. the face; visage.
3. calm facial expression; composure.
4. approval or favour; encouragement; moral support.
5. Obsolete . bearing; behaviour.
–verb (used with object)
6. to permit or tolerate
7. to approve, support, or encourage.






















Her countenance said it all
She’d seen angels
Again
Or
Ghosts
Or goodness knows it what this time
Her folks could not countenance such
Behaviour
Much
Longer
And had her locked in a room
Where she could see all her friends
Coming
Out
Walls
And hold her virtual tea parties
Without being an embarrassment.


The background picture is copyright of Willow of Willow Manor, who has put it forth as a writing prompt.
Join the writing fun at Magpie Tales.

Callithump

CALLITHUMP

-noun
1. A noisy, boisterous celebration or parade.
2. A mock serenade with pots, pans, kettles, etc., given for a newly married couple. Also known as charivari or shivaree.























The dead were known to go about
Callithumping well into the night
By order of irate neighbours
They got chained into their stone beds

Maul

MAUL

–noun
1. a heavy hammer, as for driving stakes or wedges.
2. Archaic . a heavy club or mace.
–verb (used with object)
3. to handle or use roughly.
4. to injure by a rough beating, shoving, or the like; bruise.
5. to split with a maul and wedge, as a wooden rail.






















Madonna
Mauled by time
Mauled by weather
Mauled by devotion
Stubborn.

Widdershins

WIDDERSHINS

-adv.
In a direction contrary to the natural one, especially contrary to the apparent course of the sun or counter-clockwise (in some places considered as unlucky or causing disaster). Also spelt “withershins”.






















Go, go, go,
Widdershins around the kirk
Once, twice, thrice if we must.
Listen to the organs blaring inside
Holy caterwauling
Attempting to block the winds,
The tempests raging at the door.


A complete (and edited) version of this poem was published on Every Day Poets last year.

Secular

SECULAR

–adj.
1. of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred; temporal.
2. not pertaining to or connected with religion (opposed to sacred).
3. (of education, a school, etc.) concerned with nonreligious subjects.
4. (of members of the clergy) not belonging to a religious order; not bound by monastic vows (opposed to regular).
5. occurring or celebrated once in an age or century.
6. going on from age to age; continuing through long ages.

–noun
7. a layperson.
8. one of the secular clergy.























Secular saints
Hiding
Under the cloak of time