Wish

WISH

-verb

1. (when trans., takes a clause as object or an infinitive; when intr., often followed by “for”) to want or desire (something, often that which cannot be or is not the case)

2. (trans.) to feel or express a desire or hope concerning the future or fortune of

3. (trans.) to desire or prefer to be as specified

4. (trans.) to greet as specified; bid

5. (trans.) formal to order politely

-noun

6. the act of wishing; the expression of some desire or mental inclination

7. something desired or wished for

8. (usually plural) expressed hopes or desire, especially for someone's welfare, health, etc.

9. (often plural) formal a polite order or request

Caos is gone now

So our wish

For the New Year

Is aimed at Microbo

- He of the failing lungs -

May his health hold

Irrelevant

IRRELEVANT

-adj.

not relating or pertinent to the matter at hand; not important

They run away

But that’s irrelevant

Death always catches up

Flexible

FLEXIBLE

-adj.

1. Also: flexile [ˈflɛksaɪl] . able to be bent easily without breaking; pliable

2. adaptable or variable

3. able to be persuaded easily; tractable

He begs her

To be more flexible

But rigor mortis has set

And she laughs at him

Conflagration

CONFLAGRATION

-noun

a large destructive fire

Early walk

Admiring conflagrations

In the clouds

Tentiginous

TENTIGINOUS

[tɛnˈtɪdʒɪnəs]

-adj.

(obsolete) relating to feelings of lust

Taking advantage

Of the holidays for

A few tentiginous visits

Holiday

HOLIDAY

-noun

1. (often plural) (mainly British) . a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreation.

2. a day on which work is suspended by law or custom, such as a religious festival, bank holiday, etc.

-verb

3. (intr.) (mainly British) . to spend a holiday

Lost in his friends' digital holidays

He totally misses his own

Smack

SMACK

-noun

1. a smell or flavour that is distinctive though faint

2. a distinctive trace or touch 

3. a small quantity, especially a mouthful or taste

-verb (intr.; followed by “of”)

4. to have the characteristic smell or flavour (of something)

5. to have an element suggestive (of something)

-verb

1. (trans.) to strike or slap smartly, with or as if with the open hand

2. to strike or send forcibly or loudly or to be struck or sent forcibly or loudly

3. to open and close (the lips) loudly, especially to show pleasure

4. (trans.) to kiss noisily

-noun

5. a sharp resounding slap or blow with something flat, or the sound of such a blow

6. a loud kiss

7. a sharp sound made by the lips, as in enjoyment

-adv. (informal)

8. directly; squarely

9. with a smack: sharply and unexpectedly

Some cakes smack of the holidays
Once a year treat

Tantrum

TANTRUM

-noun

(often plural) a childish fit of rage; outburst of bad temper

Sometimes

Unscheduled visits

Are met with a touch

Of tantrum

Ramble

RAMBLE

-verb (intr.)

1. to stroll about freely, as for relaxation, with no particular direction

2. (of paths, streams, etc.) to follow a winding course; meander

3. (of plants) to grow in a random fashion

4. (of speech, writing, etc.) to lack organization

-noun

5. a leisurely stroll, especially in the countryside

A full day's ramble

Concluded with friends and wine

Sticker

STICKER

-noun

1. an adhesive label, poster, or paper

2. a person or thing that sticks

3. a persevering or industrious person

4. something prickly, such as a thorn, that clings to one's clothing, etc.

5. informal something that perplexes

6. informal a knife used for stabbing
or piercing

Playful pious sticker

Catching the eye

And the rain

Stole

STOLE

-noun

1. a long scarf or shawl, worn by women

2. a long narrow scarf worn by various officiating clergymen

Entangled as he was

In her stole and skirt

He missed the battle

War never happened

Wamble

WAMBLE

-verb (intr.)

1. to move unsteadily

2. to twist the body

3. to feel nausea

-noun

4. an unsteady movement

5. a sensation of nausea

The golem woke

And wambled

Trying to hold

Its pebbles

Cursing evenings

Of heavy drinking

Sub-Saharan rains

Steganography

STEGANOGRAPHY

-noun

1. the practice of concealing messages in such a way that only the sender and the recipient know that there is a message

2. computing the concealment of a message or data within an image, audio, or video file

Nature sending us
Messages in steganography
Only hearts can read
Who want to read

Basket

BASKET

-noun

1. a container made of interwoven strips of pliable materials, such as cane, straw, thin wood, or plastic, and often carried by means of a handle or handles

2. Also called: basketful . the amount a basket will hold

3. something resembling such a container in appearance or function, such as the structure suspended from a balloon

4. basketball

a. an open horizontal metal hoop fixed to the backboard, through which a player must throw the ball to score points

b. a point or points scored in this way

5. a group or collection of similar or related things

6. the list of items an internet shopper chooses to buy at one time from a website

Pasta nested

In a Parmesan basket

Too much cheese (yes)

Complicit

COMPLICIT

-adj.

involved with others in reprehensible or illegal activity

The twins protect each other
Complicit in napping and bullying
Of tender-hearted tourists
Foolish enough to order food
And not share it with them

Brace

BRACE

-noun

1. a hand tool for drilling holes, with a socket to hold the drill at one end and a cranked handle by which the tool can be turned. In full: hand brace

2. something that steadies, binds, or holds up another thing

3. a structural member, such as a beam or prop, used to stiffen a framework

4. a sliding loop, usually of leather, attached to the cords of a drum: used to change its tension

5. a pair; two, especially of game birds

6. either of a pair of characters, { }, used for connecting lines of printing or writing or as a third sign of aggregation in complex mathematical or logical expressions that already contain parentheses and square brackets

7. Also called: accolade .  a line or bracket connecting two or more staves of music

8. (often plural) an appliance of metal bands and wires that can be tightened to maintain steady pressure on the teeth for correcting uneven alignment

9. (medicine) any of various appliances for supporting the trunk, a limb, or teeth

10. another word for bracer (archery, fencing) . a leather guard worn to protect the arm

11. (in square-rigged sailing ships) a rope that controls the movement of a yard and thus the position of a sail

12. (if plural) (British) .  a pair of straps worn over the shoulders for holding up the trousers

-verb (mainly trans)

13. to provide, strengthen, or fit with a brace

14. to steady or prepare (oneself or something) as before an impact

15. (also intr.) to stimulate; freshen; invigorate

16. to control the horizontal movement of (the yards of a square-rigged sailing ship)

Reading Proust

Bracing ourselves

Against compulsive braces

Original picture courtesy of Simon Vestdijk (and creative commons) - his picture has been cropped and words added.

Stationery

STATIONERY

-noun

any writing materials, such as paper, envelopes, pens, ink, rulers, etc.

After all these years,

And much digital writing

I still favour basic stationery

And glorious paper

Stationary

STATIONARY

-adj.

1. not moving; standing still

2. not able to be moved

3. showing no change

4. tending to remain in one place

The shepherdess has gone

With the music player

They dally, time stationary

Wimple

WIMPLE

-noun

1. a piece of cloth draped around the head to frame the face, worn by women in the Middle Ages and still a part of the habit of some nuns

2. (Scottish) a curve or bend, as in a river

-verb

3. (rare) to ripple or cause to ripple or undulate

4. (trans.) archaic to cover with or put a wimple on

5. (archaic) (especially of a veil) to lie or cause to lie in folds or pleats

Marble wimples

Its veins disregarding words

And attempts at senses

Knows no restraints

Flavescent

FLAVESCENT

-adj.

turning yellow; yellowish

In the wind

Flavescent dancers

Cover me in gold

Religieuse

RELIGIEUSE

-noun

1. a nun

-noun

1. French pastry made of two choux pastry cases, one larger than the other, filled with flavoured custard (crème pâtissière), and bound/decorated with butter cream

The absurdity

Of roses and raspberries

And barely a wimple

For my religieuse

Renal

RENAL

-adj.

of, relating to, resembling, or situated near the kidney

If your cat drinks a lot

Please have it checked

For renal insufficiency

Trefoil

TREFOIL

-noun

1. any of numerous leguminous plants of the temperate genus Trifolium, having leaves divided into three leaflets and dense heads of small white, yellow, red, or purple flowers

2. any of various related plants having leaves divided into three leaflets, such as bird's-foot trefoil

3. a leaf having three leaflets

4. (architecture) . an ornament in the form of three arcs arranged in a circle

Looking for fortune in the trefoil

That odd even leafed specimen

No luck.

Amble

AMBLE

-verb (intr.)

1. to walk at a leisurely relaxed pace

2. (of a horse) to move slowly, lifting both legs on one side together

3. to ride a horse at an amble or leisurely pace

-noun

4. a leisurely motion in walking

5. a leisurely walk

6. the ambling gait of a horse

Room after room

Ambling about

To this painting

Or another as fancy

Takes them

Rogatory

ROGATORY

-adj.

(especially in legal contexts) seeking or authorized to seek information

Perhaps a scholar

Preparing a thesis

In rogatory terms

Perhaps a poet

Counting on his fingers

Drawing by Alfons Mucha

Daunting

DAUNTING

[ˈdɔːntɪŋ]

-adj.

causing fear or discouragement; intimidating

Question the wisdom

Of such daunting entrance

To a library

Intuition

INTUITION

-noun

1. knowledge or belief obtained neither by reason nor by perception

2. instinctive knowledge or belief

3. a hunch or unjustified belief

4. (philosophy) . immediate knowledge of a proposition or object such as Kant's account of our knowledge of sensible objects

5. the supposed faculty or process by which we obtain any of these

Tired of stories

Though he comes in

On his horse

Her intuition whispers

These are lies

He tells to himself

Pilau

PILAU

[pɪˈlaʊ]

-noun

a dish originating from the East, consisting of rice flavoured with spices and cooked in stock, to which meat, poultry, or fish may be added. Variants: pilaf, pilaff [ˈpɪlæf], pilao [pɪˈlaʊ], pilaw [pɪˈlɔː] or pulao [pʊˈlaʊ]

Playing with pilau

Leaning to risotto

Fennel, horseradish

White chocolate

Salmon eggs

Ragged

RAGGED

-adj.

1. (of clothes) worn to rags; tattered

2. (of a person) dressed in shabby tattered clothes

3. having a neglected or unkempt appearance

4. having a loose, rough, or uneven surface or edge; jagged

5. uneven or irregular

Some undisclosed illness

Or lack of lust for life

Has left him with a ragged coat

Covering prominent bones

Glaucous

GLAUCOUS

-adj.

1. (botany) . covered with a bluish waxy or powdery bloom

2. bluish-green

I ran into the ocean lately and it misses you

It’s not saying, at least not much just

Rolling around pebbles under foot and

Moaning glaucous watery roars under its breath

Dejected lover – why did you leave?

Intaglio

INTAGLIO

[ɪnˈtɑːlɪˌəʊ]

-noun

1. a seal, gem, etc., ornamented with a sunken or incised design, as opposed to a design in relief.

2. the art or process of incised carving

3. a design, figure, or ornamentation carved, engraved, or etched into the surface of the material used

4. any of various printing techniques using an etched or engraved plate. The whole plate is smeared with ink, the surface wiped clean, and the ink in the recesses then transferred to the paper or other material

5. an incised die used to make a design in relief

Everything is about leading

Visitors away from truth

Faux intaglio is a painting

Marbles are simple casts

The Roman villa a Twenties’ folly