Keening

KEENING
[kee-ning]

-noun
A wailing lament for the dead.























In the storm
A single lost alien roams
Its keening lashing the night
A question?
Its light - its eye? - on
Finding naught.

Ptisan

PTISAN
[tiz-uhn, ti-zan]

-noun
1. a nourishing decoction, originally one made from barley, purported to have medicinal quality.
2. grape juice drained off without pressure



Barley tea or tisane
Hidden under the exotic term of
Ptisan.

Fable

FABLE
[fey-buhl]

—noun
1. a short moral story, especially one with animals as characters
2. a false, fictitious, or improbable account; fiction or lie
3. a story or legend about supernatural or mythical characters or events
4. legends or myths collectively
5. archaic the plot of a play or of an epic or dramatic poem
—verb
6. to relate or tell (fables)
-verb intr.
7. to speak untruthfully; tell lies
-verb trans.
8. to talk about or describe in the manner of a fable



Cats hold the universe
Safe and sound in the vibration
Of their sleeping vibrissae
Or so does the fable go.

Anoint

ANOINT
[uh-noint]

-verb (used with object)
1. to rub or sprinkle on; apply an unguent, ointment, or oily liquid to.
2. to smear with any liquid.
3. to consecrate or make sacred in a ceremony that includes the token applying of oil
4. to dedicate to the service of God.



The angel presents you
With the means to apply
Quick anointment prior to entry

Balsam

BALSAM

-noun
1. any of various fragrant oleoresins, such as balm or tolu, obtained from any of several trees and shrubs and used as a base for medicines and perfumes
2. any of various similar substances used as medicinal or ceremonial ointments
3. See also Canada balsam any of certain aromatic resinous turpentines
4. any plant yielding balsam
5. Also called: busy Lizzie any of several balsaminaceous plants of the genus Impatiens, especially I. balsamina , cultivated for its brightly coloured flowers
6. anything healing or soothing























Wafts of sweet balsam scent
From freshly cut plywood planks
Choking olive trees.

Teeter

TEETER

—verb
1. to move or cause to move unsteadily; wobble

—noun , —verb
1. another word for seesaw

Sanity teeters
On unpractical heels:
Principles and pulsions

Larceny

LARCENY

-noun
the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods of another from his or her possession with intent to convert them to the taker's own use.




House drama
Petty larceny of sprats
Directly from the tin.

Bosky

BOSKY

-adj.
1. covered with bushes, shrubs, and small trees; woody.
2. shady.























I love a bosky stroll
Coloured by autumn
Perfumed with moist earth
Rich of treasures
And hidden beasts

Corn

CORN

—noun
1. ( Brit )
a. any of various cereal plants, especially the predominant crop of a region, such as wheat in England and oats in Scotland and Ireland
b. the seeds of such plants, especially after harvesting
c. a single seed of such plants; a grain
2. Also called: Indian corn , British equivalent: maize
a. a tall annual grass, Zea mays, cultivated for its yellow edible grains, which develop on a spike
b. sweet corn - the grain of this plant, used for food, fodder, and as a source of oil
3. a. the plants producing these kinds of grain considered as a growing crop
b. ( in combination ): a cornfield
4. short for corn whisky
5. slang an idea, song, etc, regarded as banal or sentimental
6. archaic , dialect or any hard particle or grain
—verb
7. to feed (animals) with corn, especially oats
8. a. to preserve in brine
b. to salt
9. to plant corn on

—noun
1. a hardening or thickening of the skin around a central point in the foot, caused by pressure or friction




Corn for the needy
Who bend to the earth
Corns on their feet.

Mischief

MISCHIEF

-noun
1. wayward but not malicious behaviour, usually of children, that causes trouble, irritation, etc
2. a playful inclination to behave in this way or to tease or disturb
3. injury or harm caused by a person or thing
4. a person, especially a child, who is mischievous
5. a source of trouble, difficulty, etc



Mischief
Ultimate virtue of kittens
And children alike
Delicious sin for adults.

Chaff

CHAFF

-noun
1. the husks of grains and grasses that are separated during threshing.
2. straw cut up for fodder.
3. worthless matter; refuse.
4. the membranous, usually dry, brittle bracts of the flowers of certain plants.
5. Also called window. Military . strips of metal foil dropped by an aircraft to confuse enemy radar by creating false blips

-verb (used with or without object)
1. to mock, tease, or jest in a good-natured way; banter.
-noun
2. good-natured ridicule or teasing; raillery.























A dark grainy picture
Chaff to be discarded
Except for hidden grace

Polymath

POLYMATH

-noun
A person who is learned in many fields.























She considers texture,
Measures elasticity,
Ponders over gravity:
A young polymath
Playing at pizza making.

Kleptocracy

KLEPTOCRACY

-noun
A government by the corrupt in which rulers use their official positions for personal gain.























Kleptocracy
Strikes too close to home
For comfort
When will it cease?
If not now, when?

Chapbook

CHAPBOOK

-noun
A small book or pamphlet containing stories, poems, or religious tracts.























To be held religiously:
My first chapbook of poetry.

Enchiridion

ENCHIRIDION

-noun
A handbook or a manual.























I love to rely
On my favourite
Enchiridion

Marrow

MARROW

—noun
1. the fatty network of connective tissue that fills the cavities of bones
2. the vital part; essence
3. vitality
4. rich food
5. ( Brit ) short for vegetable marrow

-noun
Scot. and North England .
1. a partner; fellow worker.
2. a spouse; helpmate.
3. a companion; close friend.























My marrow
He has some too
Yet without any real taste for it.

Divot

DIVOT

—noun
a piece of turf dug out of a grass surface, especially by a golf club or by horses' hooves























Galloping kitties
Digging divots in the garden
Horsing around.

Organ

ORGAN

-noun
1. a. Also called: pipe organ a large complex musical keyboard instrument in which sound is produced by means of a number of pipes arranged in sets or stops, supplied with air from a bellows. The largest instruments possess three or more manuals and one pedal keyboard and have the greatest range of any instrument
b. ( as modifier ): organ pipe ; organ stop ; organ loft
2. reed organ See also harmonica any instrument, such as a harmonium, in which sound is produced in this way
3. electric organ short for electronic organ
4. a fully differentiated structural and functional unit, such as a kidney or a root, in an animal or plant
5. an agency or medium of communication, especially a periodical issued by a specialist group or party
6. an instrument with which something is done or accomplished
7. a euphemistic word for penis




Catching light in the early morning
Organ music twirls, high on incense

Qualm

QUALM

–noun
1. an uneasy feeling or pang of conscience as to conduct; compunction.
2. a sudden feeling of apprehensive uneasiness; misgiving.
3. a sudden sensation or onset of faintness or illness, especially of nausea.

























Do fading saints suffer
From existential qualms?

Imbue

IMBUE

-verb (used with object)
1. to impregnate or inspire, as with feelings, opinions, etc.
2. to saturate or impregnate with moisture, colour, etc.
3. to imbrue.

























Waterslides of tears or acid rains
Rinsing distress imbued walls
Crying already dark polluted stains
Over moulds from repressed sorrow
Scratched, slashed or splashed over
By storms - murders - of angry hands
Eager to express instant indignation
Suffocated aspirations and hopes.

Conflate

CONFLATE

-verb (trans)
to combine or blend (two things, especially two versions of a text) so as to form a whole























In those pages
Empires conflate
Bound into descent
By sheer weight
Historical gravity

Profectitious

PROFECTITIOUS

-adj.
Proceeding from, as from a parent; derived, as from an ancestor.

























A profectitious curse had made him king of it all
When all he'd ever wanted was to be something fun
A journalist writing gossip and culinary columns


The background picture was put on line by Willow (Tess) of Willow Manor, as a writing prompt.
Join the writing fun at Magpie Tales.

Brawn

BRAWN

— noun
1. strong well-developed muscles
2. physical strength, especially as opposed to intelligence
3. ( Brit ) a seasoned jellied loaf made from the head and sometimes the feet of a pig or calf























Autumn jewel
Capturing feasts of a hog that's past
Brawn.

Fugue

FUGUE

-noun
1. A musical form in which a theme is repeated in several voices and developed into a complex pattern.
2. A pathological state of consciousness in which someone appears to be conscious of one's actions but has no memory of them after returning to a normal state.























Their fugue-like antics
Is a clear mark of feline minds
Prone to fugue and non sequitur.

Braird

BRAIRD

-verb
1. To sprout; appear above the ground.
-noun
1. The first sprouts or shoots of grass, corn, or other crops; new growth.























A lost battle for clean surfaces:
Graffiti brairding on walls
At the first sign of humanity.

Metaphrastic

METAPHRASTIC

-adj.
Having the quality of a literary work that has been translated or changed from one form to another, as prose into verse.



Lost poems
Found poems
Metaphrastic reality

Detail

DETAIL

-noun
1. an individual or minute part; an item or particular.
2. particulars collectively; minutiae.
3. attention to or treatment of a subject in individual or minute parts.
4. intricate, finely wrought decoration.
5. Engineering . detail drawing.
6. any small section of a larger structure or whole, considered as a unit.
7. Military .
a. an appointment or assignment, as of a small group or an officer, for a special task.
b. the party or person so selected.
c. a particular assignment of duty.
8. the property of an image or of a method of image production to make small, closely spaced image elements individually distinguishable.
-verb (used with object)
9. to relate or report with complete particulars; tell fully and distinctly.
10.to mention one by one; specify; list.
11 Military . to appoint or assign for some particular duty.
12.to provide with intricate, finely wrought decoration























The devil is in the details indeed
That's where the most fun is to be had.

Accedie

ACCEDIE

-noun
spiritual sloth; apathy; indifference
Also: Acedia























Some days
I look upon the world
With nothing
But accedie

Ustulate

USTULATE

-adj.
1. coloured or blackened as if scorched.
-verb (used with object)
2. Obsolete . to burn; sear; scorch.























Eaten by worms
Ustulate and tormented
Pity follows him
If not glory.

Flavedo

FLAVEDO

-noun
the outer coloured layer of a citrus fruit























Flavedo:
Not named thus for flavour
But for Latin
Despite the taste

Junto

JUNTO

-noun
a self-appointed committee, especially with political aims; cabal. Also: Junta























A furry junto
Ready to pounce
Demanding cuddles