Monday 31 July 2017

Tuft

TUFT

-noun
1. a bunch of feathers, grass, hair, etc., held together at the base
2. a cluster of threads drawn tightly through upholstery, a mattress, a quilt, etc., to secure and strengthen the padding
3. a small clump of trees or bushes
4. (formerly) a gold tassel on the cap worn by titled undergraduates at English universities
5. (university jargon) . a person entitled to wear such a tassel
-verb
6. (trans.) to provide or decorate with a tuft or tufts
7. to form or be formed into tufts
8. to secure and strengthen (a mattress, quilt, etc.) with tufts

























Sweet summer scents
From the tuft she carries
River traces and dreams



Liza - Photography workshop with Margarita Kareva in Florence

Sunday 30 July 2017

Freekeh

FREEKEH
[ˈfriːkeɪ]

-noun
a cereal prepared by roasting wheat that has been harvested while the grains are still green

























A smoky bite
Perfect summer salad
Freekeh
Nutty and sweet


Saturday 29 July 2017

Friday 28 July 2017

Hearty

HEARTY

-adj.
1. warm and unreserved in manner or behaviour
2. vigorous and enthusiastic
3. sincere and heartfelt
4. healthy and strong
5. substantial and nourishing
-noun
6. (informal) . a comrade, often when a sailor
7. a vigorous sporting man


























His pals found him hearty

The turtle was of a different opinion



Thursday 27 July 2017

Bohemian

BOHEMIAN

-noun
1. a native or inhabitant of Bohemia, in particular of the old kingdom of Bohemia; a Czech
2. (often not capital) a person, especially an artist or writer, who lives an unconventional life
3. the Czech language
-adj.
4. of, relating to, or characteristic of Bohemia, its people, or their language
5. a gypsy
6. unconventional in appearance, behaviour, etc.

























A romantic
Lover
Of Bohemian style
Flowery
And rococo



Iva Basara - Photography workshop with Margarita Kareva in Florence

Wednesday 26 July 2017

Residence

RESIDENCE

-noun
1. the place in which one resides; abode or home
2. a large imposing house; mansion
3. the fact of residing in a place or a period of residing
4. the official house of the governor of any of various countries
5. the state of being officially present
6. the seat of some inherent quality, characteristic, etc.


























A light
Soft and inviting
A cushioned residence
And the promise of soft music
Angels flapping their wings

In time


Tuesday 25 July 2017

Veranda

VERANDA
[vəˈrændə]

-noun
1. a porch or portico, sometimes partly enclosed, along the outside of a building
2. (New Zealand) . a canopy sheltering pedestrians in a shopping street


























Stones sing and melt
Under the midday sun
And we would fry
But for the grace

Of a cool veranda

Monday 24 July 2017

Ashlar

ASHLAR

-noun
1. a block of hewn stone with straight edges for use in building
2. a thin dressed stone with straight edges, used to face a wall of rubble or brick
3. masonry made of ashlar


























Decorative ashlar
Adding an exotic touch

To an otherwise boring building

Sunday 23 July 2017

Heart

HEART

-noun
1. the hollow muscular organ in vertebrates whose contractions propel the blood through the circulatory system. In mammals it consists of a right and left atrium and a right and left ventricle
2. the corresponding organ or part in invertebrates
3. this organ considered as the seat of life and emotions, in particular love
4. emotional mood or disposition
5. tenderness or pity
6. courage or spirit; bravery
7. the inmost or most central part of a thing
8. the most important or vital part
9. (of vegetables such as cabbage) the inner compact part
10. the core of a tree
11. the part nearest the heart of a person; breast
12. a dearly loved person: usually used as a term of address
13. a conventionalized representation of the heart, having two rounded lobes at the top meeting in a point at the bottom
14. a red heart-shaped symbol on a playing card
15. a card with one or more of these symbols or (when pl.) the suit of cards so marked
16. a fertile condition in land, conducive to vigorous growth in crops or herbage
-verb
17. (intr.) (of vegetables) to form a heart
18. an archaic word for hearten


























Dear heart
Let me eat you
Because love is fickle

And flesh is hearty

Saturday 22 July 2017

Mope

MOPE

-verb (intr.)
1. to be gloomy or apathetic
2. to move or act in an aimless way
-noun
3. a gloomy person

























She refuses cuddles
Mopes about
And stays off food

Sick kitty

Friday 21 July 2017

Lacustrine

LACUSTRINE
[ləˈkʌstraɪn]

-adj.
1. of or relating to lakes
2. living or growing in or on the shores of a lake

























In a natural reserve
Lacustrine creatures

Eye you with suspicion

Thursday 20 July 2017

Plafond

PLAFOND
[pləˈfɒn]

-noun
1. a ceiling, in particular one having ornamentation
2. a card game, a precursor of contract bridge


























Yes, I suppose
One could admire

The plafond too

Wednesday 19 July 2017

Ruderal

RUDERAL

-noun
1. a plant that grows on waste ground
-adj.
2. growing in waste places

























Maybe a remembrance of
Long disappeared gardens
Or a ruderal refugee
Pushed about by wind

Obstinate and pugnacious

Tuesday 18 July 2017

Stoup

STOUP

-noun
1. a small basin for holy water
2. (Scottish and Northern England dialect) . a bucket or drinking vessel -  also spelled: stowp


























The glory of dawn
Blessing my stoup;

May the day start.

Monday 17 July 2017

Diegesis

DIEGESIS

-noun
1. (rhetoric) . the presentation of the facts by a narrator to the audience
2. (in narrative film or literature) the fictional setting, events, and characters



















The story unfolds its lies
Through the diegesis of a fox

Speaking wisdom to a blind man

Sunday 16 July 2017

Ant

ANT

-noun
Any small social insect of the widely distributed hymenopterous family Formicidae, typically living in highly organized colonies of winged males, wingless sterile females (workers), and fertile females (queens), which are winged until after mating

























Not such bare necessities but
Take a “glance at them fancy ants
And then maybe, well, try a few”,
All for the sake of Nordic experience

And a faint lemony taste.

Saturday 15 July 2017

Antsy

ANTSY

-adj.
(informal) . restless, nervous, and impatient

























She is so eager
So antsy for
Her morning cuddles
This cute little
Old thing

Friday 14 July 2017

Phrygian

PHRYGIAN

-adj.
1. of or relating to ancient Phrygia, its inhabitants, or their extinct language
2. (music) . of or relating to an authentic mode represented by the natural diatonic scale from E to E
3. (music) . (of a cadence) denoting a progression that leads a piece of music out of the major key and ends on the dominant chord of the relative minor key
-noun
4. a native or inhabitant of ancient Phrygia
5. an ancient language of Phrygia, belonging to the Thraco-Phrygian branch of the Indo-European family: recorded in a few inscriptions


















Is this music
In his Phrygian hat
That scares him so?

Of history?

Thursday 13 July 2017

Mumble

MUMBLE

-verb
1. to utter indistinctly, as with the mouth partly closed; mutter
2. (rare) . to chew (food) ineffectually or with difficulty
-noun
3. an indistinct or low utterance or sound

























They gather
Mumbling in the shadows
Complaining about ennui

Or gravity or the heat 

Wednesday 12 July 2017

Polity

POLITY

-noun
1. a form of government or organization of a state, church, society, etc.; constitution
2. a politically organized society, state, city, etc.
3. the management of public or civil affairs
4. political organization























This is the future we  are looking at
Warped polities and a dystopian fate
Staring back from our news outlet

Each day

Tuesday 11 July 2017

Arcology

ARCOLOGY

-noun
1. a type of architecture concerned with the design of enormous vertical cities that maximize population density and so preserve the surrounding countryside
2. a city in this architectural system


























Cats at night
Flying over roofs
Arcology gone mad

In the heat of the moon

Monday 10 July 2017

Parlous

PARLOUS

-adj.
1. dangerous or difficult
2. cunning
-adv.
3. extremely


























Clouds streaming by
Like words from a careless mouth
Parlous and shifty
Shredding through cords

Wet curls against our ears

Sunday 9 July 2017

Lemon

LEMON

-noun
1. a small Asian evergreen tree, Citrus limon, widely cultivated in warm and tropical regions, having pale green glossy leaves and edible fruits
2. the yellow oval fruit of this tree, having juicy acidic flesh rich in vitamin C
3. Also called : lemon yellow .  a greenish-yellow or strong yellow colour
4. a distinctive tart flavour made from or in imitation of the lemon
5. (slang) . a person or thing considered to be useless or defective

























Ô the cool lemon
Juice drank in the shade

By a hot summer day!

Saturday 8 July 2017

Pace

PACE
[peɪs]

-noun
1. a single step in walking
2. the distance covered by a step
3. a measure of length equal to the average length of a stride, approximately 3 feet
4. speed of movement, in particular of walking or running
5. rate or style of proceeding at some activity
6. manner or action of stepping, walking, etc. ; gait
7. any of the manners in which a horse or other quadruped walks or runs, the three principal paces being the walk, trot, and canter (or gallop)
8. a manner of moving, natural to the camel and sometimes developed in the horse, in which the two legs on the same side of the body are moved and put down at the same time
9. (architecture) . a step or small raised platform
-verb
10. (trans.) to set or determine the pace for, as in a race
11. ( often followed by “about”,” up and down”, etc.) . to walk with regular slow or fast paces, as in boredom, agitation, etc.
12. (trans. ; often followed by “out”) . to measure by paces
13. (intr.) to walk with slow regular strides
14. (intr.) (of a horse) to move at the pace (the specially developed gait)

-preposition
[Latin (ˈpɑːkɛ, ˈpɑːtʃɛ, English ˈpeɪsɪ]
with due deference to: used to acknowledge politely someone who disagrees with the speaker or writer

























Nervous
And eager she paces
Misses her selfie
By a moment
Then rushes off

In search for love

Friday 7 July 2017

Aware

AWARE

-adj.
1. (postpositive ; followed  by “of”) having knowledge; cognizant
2. informed of current developments

























Busy talking
Not aware of or possibly
Refusing to see

The glances in his direction


(René Redzepi)

Thursday 6 July 2017

Mindful

MINDFUL

-adj.
(usually postpositive and followed by “of”) keeping aware; heedful

























Just a sign
Asking people
To be mindful
Rather than lock

Their loves away

Wednesday 5 July 2017

Fetter

FETTER

-noun
1. (often plural) . a chain or bond fastened round the ankle; shackle
2. (usually plural) . a check or restraint
-verb (trans.)
3. to restrict or confine
4. to bind in fetters

























Books
Knowledge
So dangerous

They are kept in fetters

Tuesday 4 July 2017

Edental

EDENTAL

-adj.
1. having few or no teeth
2. (zoology) . belonging to the order Edentata, which includes anteaters, sloths, and armadillos

























Modern art
For some opaque but
Not exactly edental


Monday 3 July 2017

Prepone

PREPONE

-verb (trans.)
(Indian) . to bring forward to an earlier time


























Alessio was unaware
That the party had been preponed
And fell asleep

While everyone else made merry 

Sunday 2 July 2017

Pulse

PULSE

-noun
1. physiology
a. the rhythmic contraction and expansion of an artery at each beat of the heart, often discernible to the touch at points such as the wrists
b. a single pulsation of the heart or arteries
2. physics , electronics
a. a transient sharp change in voltage, current, or some other quantity normally constant in a system
b. one of a series of such transient disturbances, usually recurring at regular intervals and having a characteristic geometric shape
3. a recurrent rhythmic series of beats, waves, vibrations, etc.
4. any single beat, wave, etc., in such a series
5. bustle, vitality, or excitement
6. the feelings or thoughts of a group or society as they can be measured
-verb
7. (intr.) to beat, throb, or vibrate
8. (trans.) to provide an electronic pulse to operate (a slide projector)

-noun
1. the edible seeds of any of several leguminous plants, such as peas, beans, and lentils
2. the plant producing any of these seeds


























Some of my favourite pulses

A transient delight










Saturday 1 July 2017

Melancholy

MELANCHOLY

-noun
1. a constitutional tendency to gloominess or depression
2. a sad thoughtful state of mind; pensiveness
3. (archaic) . a gloomy character, thought to be caused by too much black bile
4. (archaic) . one of the four bodily humours; black bile
-adj.
5. characterized by, causing, or expressing sadness, dejection, etc.


























A prisoner
Kept in fetters

Bound by melancholy