Monday 29 February 2016

Frowsty

FROWSTY

-adj.
ill-smelling; stale; musty

























In the garden
Frowsty jumble dolls

Parade as art pieces

Sunday 28 February 2016

Financier

FINANCIER

-noun
1. a person who is engaged or skilled in large-scale financial operations

-noun
1. small cake of French origins, similar to sponge cake, traditionally made of  almond flour, but sometimes involving flour from other types of nut.

























Caramelised white chocolate
A little pistachio financier

Roasted quince - delight

Saturday 27 February 2016

Entice

ENTICE

-verb
(trans.) to attract or draw towards oneself by exciting hope or desire; tempt; allure

























I reach out
Trying to entice him
To get a better picture

Without hope

Friday 26 February 2016

Negociant

NEGOCIANT

-noun
wine merchant

























With spring
Lusty negociants
Take to the street
Ready for all occasions


Thursday 25 February 2016

Profane

PROFANE

-adj.
1. having or indicating contempt, irreverence, or disrespect for a divinity or something sacred
2. not designed or used for religious purposes; secular
3. not initiated into the inner mysteries or sacred rites
4. vulgar, coarse, or blasphemous
-verb (trans.)
5. to treat or use (something sacred) with irreverence
6. to put to an unworthy or improper use



















In our search for a meaning
To all mysteries we hazard
Profane hypotheses across
A perilous mystical chess board

Wednesday 24 February 2016

Dexterous

DEXTEROUS

 -adj.
1. possessing or done with dexterity
2. a rare word for right-handed




















Entering stage right
A dexterous putto
Carrying mischief

On a silver platter

Tuesday 23 February 2016

Undulous

UNDULOUS

-adj.
having a wavy form or appearance

























Dizzying
Undulous daffodil fields
Bringing colour to

A rain day

Monday 22 February 2016

Disemwovel

DISEMVOWEL 
[ˌdɪsɪmˈvaʊəl]

-verb
(trans.) (informal) to remove the vowels from (a word in a text message, email, etc.) in order to abbreviate it

























This is beyond
Simple disemvowelling
Nearly hieroglyphic

Yet fully fictional

Sunday 21 February 2016

Lignicolous

LIGNICOLOUS

-adj.
growing or living on or in wood

























Unlike its Pleurotus siblings
This delight is not lignicolous

[Not that we care]

Saturday 20 February 2016

Atrabiliar

ATRABILIAR

-adj.
(rare) irritable

























The little atrabiliar fool

Seeking shelter from pests

Friday 19 February 2016

Nubilous

NUBILOUS

-adj.
(literary)
1. cloudy; misty
2. vague; obscure

























The curtains are drawn
A nubilous dawn

Chasing light over the sea




Thursday 18 February 2016

Contend

CONTEND

-verb
1. (intr.) often followed by “with” . to struggle in rivalry, battle, etc.; vie
2. to argue earnestly; debate
3. (trans.; may take a clause as object) to assert or maintain


























Reflections
Contend for content

Where is reality?

Wednesday 17 February 2016

Plight

PLIGHT

-noun
1. a condition of extreme hardship, danger, etc.

-verb
1. to give or pledge (one's word)
2. to promise formally or pledge (allegiance, support, etc.) 
-noun
3. (archaic  or dialect) a solemn promise, especially of engagement; pledge

























There was a botched plight
To give that horse wings
But specifications got warped

And it was given paddles instead

Tuesday 16 February 2016

Clip

CLIP

-verb  (mainly trans.)
1. (also intr.) to cut, snip, or trim with or as if with scissors or shears, especially in order to shorten or remove a part
2. (British) to punch (a hole) in something, especially a ticket
3. to curtail or cut short
4. to move a short section from (a film, etc.)
5. to shorten (a word)
6. (intr.) to trot or move rapidly, especially over a long distance
7. (informal) to strike with a sharp, often slanting, blow
8. (slang) to obtain (money) by deception or cheating
9. (US, slang) to murder; execute
-noun
10. the act or process of clipping
11. something clipped off
12. an extract from a film, newspaper, etc.
13. (informal) a sharp, often slanting, blow
14. (informal) speed
15. (Australian & and New Zealand) the total quantity of wool shorn, as in one place, season, etc.

-noun
1. any of various small implements used to hold loose articles together or to attach one article to another
2. an article of jewellery that can be clipped onto a dress, hat, etc.
3. the pointed flange on a horseshoe that secures it to the front part of the hoof
-verb
4. (trans.)to hold together tightly, as with a clip
5. (trans.) (archaic  or dialect) to embrace


























Coming up
From underground
For a clip of fresh air
Seeing a black friar

Clipped to a wall

Monday 15 February 2016

Haggle

HAGGLE

-verb
1. (intr.) often followed by “over” . to bargain or wrangle (over a price, terms of an agreement, etc.); barter
2. (trans.) (rare) to hack

























In the market place
They haggle over the price
Of souls and salvation

Sunday 14 February 2016

Guggle

GUGGLE

-verb
1. to drink making a gurgling sound
2. to make a sound like that made when liquid is poured from a bottle

























As much as I hate
Guggle sounds

I do like the effect

Saturday 13 February 2016

Coll

COLL

-verb
to embrace (a person)

























Ever since she was a kitten
She has always colled him
Her favourite human cushion


Friday 12 February 2016

Fugle

FUGLE

-verb
1. to act as a fugleman or guide
2. to make signals; to gesticulate

























The creature darts back and forth
Fugles to attract my attention

It’s a scam to rob me of my food

Thursday 11 February 2016

Duty

DUTY

-noun
1. a task or action that a person is bound to perform for moral or legal reasons
2. respect or obedience due to a superior, older persons, etc.
3. the force that binds one morally or legally to one's obligations
4. a government tax, especially on imports
5. (British)
a. the quantity or intensity of work for which a machine is designed
b. a measure of the efficiency of a machine
6. the quantity of water necessary to irrigate an area of land to grow a particular crop
7. a job or service allocated

























You asked me what motive
What duty made me look away
From the parallel worlds here reflected
But in truth I worried only

About saving my sanity

Wednesday 10 February 2016

Scope

SCOPE

-noun
1. opportunity for exercising the faculties or abilities; capacity for action
2. range of view, perception, or grasp; outlook
3. the area covered by an activity, topic, etc.; range 
4. (nautical) slack left in an anchor cable
5. (logic, linguistics) that part of an expression that is governed by a given operator
6. (archaic) purpose or aim
-verb
7. (informal) to look at or examine carefully

























In the fog
We lost our scope
Traded in for ghosts

And ruins

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Initiative

INITIATIVE

-noun
1. the first step or action of a matter; commencing move
2. the right or power to begin or initiate something
3. the ability or attitude required to begin or initiate something
4. (government)
a. the right or power to introduce legislation, etc., in a legislative body
b. the procedure by which citizens originate legislation, as in many American states and Switzerland
-adj.
5. of or concerning initiation or serving to initiate; initiatory

























They scatter
On their own initiative,
Called by urgent sounds,
Missing points,
Never intersecting.

Sisters.

Monday 8 February 2016

Woebegone

WOEBEGONE 
[ˈwəʊbɪˌɡɒn  ] 

-adj.
sorrowful or sad in appearance
(archaic) afflicted with woe

























Hidden away
A woebegone monument
To the moon landing
Re-purposed

As veteran memorial

Sunday 7 February 2016

Carpaccio

CARPACCIO
[ˌkɑːˈpætʃɪəʊ]

-noun
an Italian dish of thin slices of raw meat or fish

























Savoury breakfast
Culinary alliances
French croissant

Italian carpaccio

Saturday 6 February 2016

Tiger

TIGER

-noun
1. a large feline mammal, Panthera tigris, of forests in most of Asia, having a tawny yellow coat with black stripes
2. (not in technical use) . any of various other animals, such as the jaguar, leopard, and thylacine
3. a dynamic, forceful, or cruel person
4. a country, especially in E Asia, that is achieving rapid economic growth
5. (archaic) . a servant in livery, especially a page or groom
6. short for tiger moth
7. (South Africa, slang) a ten-rand note

























This grumpy tiger
Demands to know

Why we do not fear her

Friday 5 February 2016

Niggard

NIGGARD
[ˈnɪɡəd  ] 

-noun
1. a stingy person
-adj.
2. (archaic) miserly

























Offers for perusal
But some niggard
Has put a price tag

No running away

Thursday 4 February 2016

Ere

ERE 
[ɛə  ] 

-conjunction
1. (poetic) earlier than the time when 
-preposition
2. (poetic) preceding in space or time; in front of; ahead of   















Ere barbarian invasions
This was a wealthy place
But tombs were plundered
Precious marbles burnt for lime
Leaving fragments behind

For archaeologists to ponder over

Wednesday 3 February 2016

Penurious

PENURIOUS 
[pɪˈnjʊərɪəs  ]

-adj.
1. niggardly with money
2. lacking money or means
3. yielding little; scanty




















One could pretend
In penurious times
This is an expensive

Satellite view 

Tuesday 2 February 2016

Strewth

STREWTH 
[struːθ  ]

-exclamation
an expression of surprise or dismay





















Strewth,
I never expected
Old resins, decayed leaves

To be so fragrant still!

Monday 1 February 2016

Imponderable

IMPONDERABLE

-adj.
1. unable to be weighed or assessed
-noun
2. something difficult or impossible to assess

















The light you shine
So dark, so imponderable
Casts fluttering shadows

In my heart