Time

TIME

–noun
1. the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another.
2. duration regarded as belonging to the present life as distinct from the life to come or from eternity; finite duration.
3. (sometimes initial capital letter) a system or method of measuring or reckoning the passage of time.
4. a limited period or interval, as between two successive events.
5. a particular period considered as distinct from other periods
6. Often, times
a. a period in the history of the world, or contemporary with the life or
activities of a notable person.
b. the period or era now or previously present.
c. a period considered with reference to its events or prevailing conditions,
tendencies, ideas, etc.
7. a prescribed or allotted period, as of one's life, for payment of a debt, etc.
8. the end of a prescribed or allotted period, as of one's life or a pregnancy.
9. a period with reference to personal experience of a specified kind.
10.a period of work of an employee, or the pay for it; working hours or days or an hourly or daily pay rate.
11.Informal. a term of enforced duty or imprisonment.
12.the period necessary for or occupied by something.
13.leisure time; sufficient or spare time.
14.a particular or definite point in time, as indicated by a clock.
15.a particular part of a year, day, etc.; season or period.
16.an appointed, fit, due, or proper instant or period.
17.the particular point in time when an event is scheduled to take place.
18.an indefinite, frequently prolonged period or duration in the future.
19.the right occasion or opportunity.
20.each occasion of a recurring action or event.
21.times, used as a multiplicative word in phrasal combinations expressing how many instances of a quantity or factor are taken together.
22.Drama. one of the three Unities.
23.Prosody. a unit or a group of units in the measurement of meter.
24.Music.
a. tempo; relative rapidity of movement.
b. the metrical duration of a note or rest.
c. proper or characteristic tempo.
d. the general movement of a particular kind of musical composition with reference
to its rhythm, metrical structure, and tempo.
e. the movement of a dance or the like to music so arranged.
25.Military. rate of marching, calculated on the number of paces taken per minute.
26.Manège. each completed action or movement of the horse.

–adj.
27.of, pertaining to, or showing the passage of time.
28.(of an explosive device) containing a clock so that it will detonate at the desired moment: a time bomb.
29.Commerce. payable at a stated period of time after presentment: time drafts or notes.
30.of or pertaining to purchases on the instalment plan, or with payment postponed.

–verb (used with object)
31.to measure or record the speed, duration, or rate of: to time a race.
32.to fix the duration of some occurrence
33.to fix the interval between (actions, events, etc.)
34.to regulate (a train, clock, etc.) as to time.
35.to appoint or choose the moment or occasion for; schedule,

–verb (used without object)
36.to keep time; sound or move in unison.



Pebble after pebble,
Time is gnawing at our bones
Despite copious Champagne libations.
Breath after breath,
Time is sucking our life
Despite our ritual sacrifice of many victuals.
Moment after moment,
Time will win always, the greedy fool,
In spite of our murmured - or hollered - wishes.

Somniloquy

SOMNILOQUY

noun
The act or habit of talking in one's sleep.






















My dreams suffered from somniloquy
Feeding on my inner thoughts and fears
Building stories from stolen wisps
And telling them to the moon.

The moon is a LIFE archive image

Outré

OUTRÉ

-adj.
Unusual and typically rather shocking.


























With fashion gone a little outré
Simple cups grew tits
And wild chimerae
Brewing strange liquors
In the dreams of teetotallers.

Droll

DROLL

–adj.
1. amusing in an odd way; whimsically humorous; waggish.
–noun
2. a droll person; jester; wag.
–verb
3. Archaic. to jest; joke.




Every human needs
A droll creature
With a jest in every whisker
And a purr in every breath

Bulwark

BULWARK

noun
1. defensive wall: a structure such as a wall or fortification built to keep out attackers
2. protection: somebody or something that gives protection or support
3. harbour wall: a wall built out into the sea to shelter a harbour




Her smile was a sensual bulwark
That kept you out
As much as it kept her in.
You thought you might breach her defences
But she was already boiling oil,
Poured through razor sharp teeth.

Mata Hari appears courtesy of LIFE archive

Jaunt

JAUNT

noun
excursion: a trip, especially a short one taken for fun or pleasure




A departing sun
Sent shadows on a jaunt
Waffle scent wafting

Macrobiotic

MACROBIOTIC

-adj.
of or having to do with macrobiotics, a dietary system derived from Zen Buddhism and purported to prolong life
























Despite his penchant for the macrobiotic diet
A tasty morsel would always tempt him back
To the life of a contented gourmet.

Undulant

UNDULANT

-adj.
1 : rising and falling in waves
2 : having a wavy form, outline, or surface



He loved her undulant forms
And the song they played for his ears
Beating drums in his bloodstream.


Ms Ruth St Denis appears courtesy of the NY Public Library

Inanimate

INANIMATE

-adj.
Not having the qualities associated with active, living organisms.






















Inanimate angel
Dreams of bright red
Poppy clouds

Vacillate

VACILLATE

verb
1. to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute: His tendency to vacillate makes him a poor leader.
2. to sway unsteadily; waver; totter; stagger.
3. to oscillate or fluctuate.























She vacillates
Uncertain under the gale
A storm of stares more than she can take
But she is rooted
And cannot flee
From attention.

Vintage lady courtesy of the New York Public Library

Invocation

INVOCATION

–noun
1. the act of invoking or calling upon a deity, spirit, etc., for aid, protection, inspiration, or the like; supplication.
2. any petitioning or supplication for help or aid.
3. a form of prayer invoking God's presence, esp. one said at the beginning of a religious service or public ceremony.
4. an entreaty for aid and guidance from a Muse, deity, etc., at the beginning of an epic or epiclike poem.
5. the act of calling upon a spirit by incantation.
6. the magic formula used to conjure up a spirit; incantation.
7. the act of calling upon or referring to something, as a concept or document, for support and justification in a particular circumstance.
8. the enforcing or use of a legal or moral precept or right.























I loved
The invocations
That growled from empty stomachs
Summoning feasts to our table.

Displace

DISPLACE ·

verb
1 : to remove from the usual or proper place ; specifically : to expel or force to
flee from home or homeland
2 a : to move physically out of position
b : to take the place of (as in a chemical reaction) : supplant



Looking at the hands
Displaced and forlorn
Forever longing for that single liberating clap,
The call of music.

Laconic

LACONIC

-adj.
using few words



Laconic:
Why waste the words?
The time?

Laconic is - suitably - made using Textorizer

Lucubrate

LUCUBRATE

verb
1. To work diligently by artificial light, to study at night.
2. To work or write like a scholar.



When intemperance imposed black-out in his life
Lucubrating made the most of everything
Draping facts in deep mystery and
His eye sight in darkness

Rambunctious

RAMBUNCTIOUS

–adj.
1. difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous.
2. turbulently active and noisy.



A rambunctious torment
In the form of a new dress
Weapon of massive distraction
For the holidays.

Chimera

CHIMERA

-noun
1. a mythological, fire-breathing monster, commonly represented with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.
2. any similarly grotesque monster having disparate parts, esp. as depicted in decorative art.
3. a horrible or unreal creature of the imagination; a vain or idle fancy: He is far different from the chimera your fears have made of him.
4. Genetics. an organism composed of two or more genetically distinct tissues, as an organism that is partly male and partly female, or an artificially produced individual having tissues of several species. Also,chimaera.



Beware the chimeras
Lurking in the shadows
Of your brain
Devouring reality.

Sedentary

SEDENTARY

-adj.
Not migratory, settled, as in "sedentary birds"; doing or requiring much sitting, as in "a sedentary job"; attached, as in "sedentary barnacles."




The sedentary couple
Has to find ways to pass the time
In merriment
No matter how strange
Bed- (or stone-) fellows
They might make.

Opulent

OPULENT

-adj.
1. characterized by or exhibiting opulence.
2. wealthy, rich, or affluent.
3. richly supplied; abundant or plentiful.



I could mark
An opulent light
In your eyes

Ingrained

INGRAINED

-adj.
Of something firmly fixed or established; difficult to change.



Memories of you still haunt
Ingrained in the fabric of time
Insects prisoners of their amber bed
Itching beyond relief.

Cupel

CUPEL

noun
container for separating precious metals: a small container in which precious metals are refined, especially one in which gold and silver are separated from base metals during assaying
























My heart was the cupel
Where both real and fake
Friendships were welcomed
And sorted as befits the faith;
All polished and shone,
Some to cherish,
Others to smile upon.

Deasil

DEASIL

-adj.
Righthandwards; in the direction of the sun; clockwise.























In dreams I wandered
Juggling pomegranates,
Deasil and awkward task,
Looking at the sun
Through pits covered eyes.

Abyssal

ABYSSAL

–adj.
1. of or like an abyss; immeasurable; unfathomable.
2. of or pertaining to the biogeographic zone of the ocean bottom between the bathyal and hadal zones: from depths of approximately 13,000 to 21,000 ft. (4000 to 6500 m).



Her eyes
- Abyssal -
Were coutoured with perdition
All rafts and souls lost
And mermaid playing
In glum froth

The lovely vintage lady appears courtesy of Lorivintage55stock @ Deviantart

Whisper

WHISPER
   
–verb (used without object)
1. to speak with soft, hushed sounds, using the breath, lips, etc., but with no vibration of the vocal cords.
2. Phonetics. to produce utterance substituting breath for phonation.
3. to talk softly and privately (often implying gossip, slander, plotting, or the like): The king knew that the courtiers were whispering.
4. (of trees, water, breezes, etc.) to make a soft, rustling sound like that of whispering.
–verb (used with object)
5. to utter with soft, low sounds, using the breath, lips, etc.: He whispered endearments to her.
6. Phonetics. to utter (speech sounds) substituting breath for phonation.
7. to say or tell in a whisper; tell privately.
8. to speak to or tell (a person) in a whisper or privately.
–noun
9. the mode of utterance, or the voice, of a person who whispers: to speak in a whisper.
10.a word or remark uttered by whispering.
11.a rumor or insinuation: Whispers circulated about the affair.
12.a soft, rustling sound like a whisper: the whisper of leaves in the wind.






















To summon memories of you
I burnt some old whispers
We had shared in the wood,
Staring in the void
Where smoke disappeared.

Memory

MEMORY

noun
1. the mental capacity or faculty of retaining and reviving facts, events, impressions, etc., or of recalling or recognizing previous experiences.
2. this faculty as possessed by a particular individual: to have a good memory.
3. the act or fact of retaining and recalling impressions, facts, etc.; remembrance; recollection: to draw from memory.
4. the length of time over which recollection extends: a time within the memory of living persons.
5. a mental impression retained; a recollection: one's earliest memories.
6. the reputation of a person or thing, esp. after death; fame: a ruler of beloved memory.
7. the state or fact of being remembered.
8. a person, thing, event, fact, etc., remembered.
9. commemorative remembrance; commemoration: a monument in memory of Columbus.
10.the ability of certain materials to return to an original shape after deformation.
11.Also called computer memory, storage. Computers.
a. the capacity of a computer to store information subject to recall.
b. the components of the computer in which such information is stored.
12.Rhetoric. the step in the classical preparation of a speech in which the wording is memorized.






















To summon memories of you
I gouged your old records
Trying to catch your breath
In the scratches and cracks
Calling from another world.

Pomander

POMANDER

noun
1. a mixture of aromatic substances, often in the form of a ball, formerly carried on the person as a supposed guard against infection but now placed in closets, dressers, etc.
2. the ball, box, or other case in which it was formerly carried.



To summon memories of you
I lacerated the pomanders
That held your skin sweet
In the warmth of dreams,
Spilling tears and seeds.

Therianthropic

THERIANTHROPIC

-adj.
Combining the form of an animal with that of a man.



From his dreams
Full of therianthropic creatures,
The ancient astronomer
Derived our zodiac signs.
And before rarebits were invented too!

Voluminous

VOLUMINOUS

-adj.
Large in number or quantity (especially of discourse).






















She held the world inside her voluminous petticoats
Tied to her garter, snug and warm.
Where only fleas – and the king – ventured
While she enjoyed ambient mayhem.

Original painting by Louise Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun.

Pareidolia

PAREIDOLIA

noun
The tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the viewer; such as interpreting marks on Mars as canals or seeing shapes in clouds.























Look out, they are about to get you.
The parading cloud demons,
The monsters hidden in your wallpaper.
Never mind if they say
That’s just pareidolia
Or melancholy disposition
You know.

Diurnal

DIURNAL

adj
1. Happening or occurring during daylight, or primarily active during that time.
2. (botany) Said of a flower open, or releasing its perfume, during daylight hours but not at night.
3. Having a daily cycle that is completed every 24 hours.



A diurnal flower,
She was
Prone to disappearing
Into other dimensions
At night
Where we could not
Touch her:
A splendid creature
In her glass coffin,
Evanescent,
Rare and noxious

Forwhy

FORWHY

adverb: Why.
conjunction: Because.



I think forwhy I am:
Tantalizing thought yet
Not enough to build a base for our universe.

Tenacious

TENACIOUS

-adj.
1
a : not easily pulled apart : cohesive
b : tending to adhere or cling especially to another substance
2
a : persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired
b : retaining knowledge easily






















She showed a tenacious smile
Even in the midst of adversity.
She said it helped but what's more:
It annoyed adversity considerably.

Prescience

PRESCIENCE

—noun
knowledge of things before they exist or happen; foreknowledge; foresight.






















If prescience is the art of foresight
What type of science is that of hindsight?
History?
Could history be a science instead of a mere learned man's dream?

Pernicious

PERNICIOUS

—adj.
1. causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful
2. deadly; fatal
3. Obs.evil; wicked.



Sometimes when the weather was just so
Pernicious melodies would bring tears to his eyes
And melt the world from under his feet.

Francis John McComas makes a guest appearance, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution

Variegate

As nature variegates its coat
Our hearts seek shelter
In the warmth of the spectrum.

Solace

SOLACE

noun
1.Comfort or consolation in a time of distress.
2.A source of comfort or consolation.






















Bundle of solace
Recharging its batteries
Purring slice of sun

Sutler

SUTLER

noun
(historical) A person who followed an army and sold provisions to the soldiers.



He sold all matter of things
Food, drinks. Girls. Dreams.
But when the ghosts came back after the battle
Even the sutler had no spare lives for them.

Picture courtesy of the LIFE archive.

Opaque

OPAQUE

adj.
1 : not letting light through : not transparent
2 : not reflecting light




In opaque ponds
I looked for a reflection
Of what might be
Finding more obscure mysteries
In the form of mental leeches.

Elegize

ELEGIZE

verb
1. transitive and intransitive verb: commemorate somebody or something sorrowfully; to write or speak about somebody or something in a mournful sorrowful way
2. intransitive verb: write or deliver an elegy; to write, read, or recite an elegy




I elegized our love so much
I was fooled into thinking
It was a good thing once more.

Tomnoddy

TOMNODDY

noun
1.The puffin.
2.A fool or dunce.






















He'd wanted to glide,
A graceful being
Slicing through the ice.
But instead...
A Tomnoddy.

Catafalque

CATAFALQUE

noun
Decorated or elaborated bier on which a coffin rests in state during a ceremonial funeral. It sometimes involves a canopy and other structures.























We appreciated the catafalque provided
Though it did seem out of scale
With the humble dish proffered.

Scuttlebutt

SCUTTLEBUTT

noun
1 (nautical) A keg of water on board ship, around which sailors would gossip.
2 (informal) Gossip, rumour, idle chatter.



Scuttlebutt sloshed over
Drenching everyone in scandal
Cries of libel were raised
But too many enjoyed it.

Echolalia

ECHOLALIA

noun
1. Psychiatry: the uncontrollable and immediate repetition of words spoken by another person.
2. The imitation by a child of the vocal sounds produced by others, occurring as a natural phase of childhood develop



Echo, Echo… Echolalia
Alalia, Alalia, Alalia,
Laelia, laelia
Lilly.
Lilly has an echo, an echo in a gecko.

Edentulous

EDENTULOUS

adj
Toothless.



Their criticism could not break my spirit
Or tame the wild creature in me
For all their acidity,
The comments were rather edentulous.

Prehension

PREHENSION

noun
1 : the act of taking hold, seizing, or grasping
2 : mental understanding : comprehension
3 : apprehension by the senses






















So much for prehension!
No grasp would ever make
The dead leave stay
The dead heart play

Adduce

ADDUCE

verb
to offer as a reason in support of an argument; bring up as an example; give as proof or evidence; cite



His argumentation was rolling on and on
Drowing the argument in an ocean of empty words
And hollow pretexes,
Failing to adduce any credible fact.
As to why he just had to have that one more cake

Ben Foster appears courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution,

Hewn

HEWN

adj.
1. felled and roughly shaped by hewing: hewn logs.
2. given a rough surface: hewn stone.






















His lips and hands had been hewn
By sandy storms of strewed feelings
By stray splinters of servitude;
His heart, pristine.

Thomas Cole appears courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution

Debridement

DEBRIDEMENT

noun
surgical removal of foreign matter and dead tissue from a wound.






















The new year brought in
Debridement
On the old scabs that used to be
Our love
Leaving sensitive new skin exposed

Flak

FLAK

noun
1. antiaircraft fire, esp. as experienced by the crews of combat airplanes at which the fire is directed.
2. criticism; hostile reaction; abuse



Flak, like a slap
Sounding harsh
Feeling harsher still

Vapid

VAPID

—adj.,
1. lacking or having lost life, sharpness, or flavor; insipid; flat.
2. without liveliness or spirit; dull or tedious






















After a life of vapid tendencies,
Mid-life crisis came as a shock
Autumn never more flamboyant
In its poignancy.

Exorbitant

EXORBITANT

Adj.
exceeding proper limits; extravagant; excessive or unduly high



Exorbitant dreams was all he had going for him
They came at a cost he could not meet
Always relying on others to pay
For hope,
Tears and their salt.