Thursday 30 April 2009

Wane

WANE

–verb (used without object)

1. to decrease in strength, intensity, etc.
2. to decline in power, importance, prosperity, etc.
3. to draw to a close; approach an end.
4. (of the moon) to decrease periodically in the extent of its illuminated portion after the full moon.
–noun
5. a gradual decrease or decline in strength, intensity, power, etc.
6. the drawing to a close of life, an era, a period, etc.
7. the waning of the moon.
8. a period of waning.
9. a defect in a plank or board characterized by bark or insufficient wood at a corner or along an edge, due to the curvature of the log.



I watch
Your breath
Wane

The world
Sus
pen
ded
For the shortest longest time.

Wednesday 29 April 2009

Intersperse

INTERSPERSE

–verb (used with object)
1. to scatter here and there or place at intervals among other things.
2. to diversify with something placed or scattered at intervals.
























Dream interspersed with thoughts
A meadow scattered with wild flowers
Thought sprinkled with dreams

Tuesday 28 April 2009

Clock

CLOCK

-noun
1. An instrument other than a watch for measuring or indicating time, especially a mechanical or electronic device having a numbered dial and moving hands or a digital display.
2. A time clock.
3. A source of regularly occurring pulses used to measure the passage of time, as in a computer.
4. Any of various devices that indicate measurement, such as a speedometer or a taximeter.
5. A biological clock.
6. Botany The downy flower head of a dandelion that has gone to seed.
7. An embroidered or woven decoration on the side of a stocking or sock
-verb tr.
1. To time, as with a stopwatch.
2. To register or record with a mechanical device.
-verb intr.
To record working hours with a time clock.






















Exploded clocks
Drifting on the winds
Clouds snowing in.

Monday 27 April 2009

Moirologist

MOIROLOGIST

-noun
A hired mourner.






















A good part of the journalists' crowd
Hire themselves as moirologists
Although they usually prefer to sign themselves
With titles like “analyst” or “consultant” instead.

Sunday 26 April 2009

Gibbet

GIBBET

–noun
1.a gallows with a projecting arm at the top, from which the bodies of criminals were formerly hung in chains and left suspended after execution.
–verb (used with object)
2. to hang on a gibbet.
3. to put to death by hanging on a gibbet.
4. to hold up to public scorn.






















Roads have forks,
And so have gallows,
Bitter and taunting
For the poor gibbeting souls
Alternative paths flaunting vain illusions.
In front of their dying eyes.

Saturday 25 April 2009

Flux

FLUX

-noun
1. a flowing or flow.
2. the flowing in of the tide.
3. continuous change, passage, or movement.
4. Physics.
a. the rate of flow of fluid, particles, or energy.
b. a quantity expressing the strength of a field of force in a given area.
5. Chemistry, Metallurgy.
a. a substance used to refine metals by combining with impurities to form a molten mixture that can be readily removed.
b. a substance used to remove oxides from and prevent further oxidation of fused metal, as in soldering or hot-dip coating.
c. (in the refining of scrap or other metal) a salt or mixture of salts that combines with non-metallic impurities, causing them to float or coagulate.
6. Fusion
–verb (used with object)
7. to melt; make fluid.
8. to fuse by the use of flux.
9. Obsolete. to purge.
–verb (used without object)
10.to flow.




People come and go,
Following this or that or the other
Stopping with no obvious reason,
An erratic flux
Following moons of its own.

Friday 24 April 2009

Poise

POISE

–noun
1. a state of balance or equilibrium, as from equality or equal distribution of weight; equipoise.
2. a dignified, self-confident manner or bearing; composure; self-possession.
3. steadiness; stability: intellectual poise.
4. suspense or wavering, as between rest and motion or two phases of motions.
5. the way of being poised, held, or carried.
6. the state or position of hovering.
–verb (used with object)

7. to adjust, hold, or carry in equilibrium; balance evenly.
8. to hold supported or raised, as in position for casting, using, etc.
9. to hold or carry in a particular manner
10.Obsolete. to weigh.
–verb (used without object)
11.to rest in equilibrium; be balanced.
12.to hover, as a bird in the air.




You may envy a cat’s poise
As long as you never trust it.

Thursday 23 April 2009

Atone

ATONE

-verb
To make reparation, compensation, or amends, for an offence or a crime one has committed.



Trying to atone for the rot
For the rot of the world beyond
Losing the battle everyday
Everyday decaying too.
Fading.

Wednesday 22 April 2009

Meretricious

MERETRICIOUS

-adj.
1. Gaudy, vulgarly showy but without real value.
2. Ostensibly plausible but false, as a meretricious argument, cleverly deceptive.






















He’d been called a meretricious pig before (although never by a witch).

Tuesday 21 April 2009

Etesian

ETESIAN

-adj.
Occurring annually.




The etesian fair
Loaded punters with cheap thrills and expensively won toys
Unloading them of funds and bitter thoughts about the crisis.

Monday 20 April 2009

Gest

GEST

noun

1: a tale of adventures ; especially : a romance in verse
2: adventure , exploit
Also spelled “geste”



The morality of the gest
Did not save the book from dry rot:
Mildewed heroes, tattered infants,
Noble literary zombies.

La Fille de Carilès is a story by Mme. Colomb (Ed. HACHETTE, 1875)

Sunday 19 April 2009

Pellucid

PELLUCID

-adj.
1. Admitting the maximum passage of light.
2. Clear; easy to understand.



Pellucid petals
Doing away with daylight.
Pollen driven tears.

Saturday 18 April 2009

Emit

EMIT

-verb
1 a : to throw or give off or out
b : to send out : eject
2 : utter























Unlikely puddles seemed to emit noxious notions like open doors to unseen universes or a few ghosts' dominion.

Friday 17 April 2009

Gramineous

GRAMINEOUS

-adj.
Of or relating to grass.




Where the gramineous pest roams
Grass grows again and again
To be devoured once more.
For its sin?

Thursday 16 April 2009

Globule

GLOBULE

-noun

1 a little globe; a small particle of matter, of a spherical form.
2 (Biology) A minute spherical or rounded structure; as blood, lymph, and pus corpuscules, minute fungi, spores, etc.
3 A little pill or pellet used by homoeopaths.




We learnt to speak in globules
Defining how much we might say
By how much space we had to do so,
Never querying who
Was the author of our dialogues.

Wednesday 15 April 2009

Anomie

ANOMIE

-noun (sociology)
A state or condition of individuals or society characterized by a breakdown or absence of social norms and values, as in the case of uprooted people.























What dreadful case of anomie
Had created this riot of ornaments,
This stampede of angels?

Tuesday 14 April 2009

Hermetic

HERMETIC

-adj.
1. Airtight.
2. Not affected by outside influence.
3. Relating to the occult sciences, especially alchemy; magical.
4. Obscure or hard to understand.






















In her hermetic prison,
She did not age
Just Faded away.

Monday 13 April 2009

Pickwickian

PICKWICKIAN

-adj.
1. Marked by generosity, naivete, or innocence.
2. Not intended to be taken in a literal sense.






















I found a love
For Pickwickian figurines
In a corner of my childhood.

Sunday 12 April 2009

Gnathonize

GNATHONIZE

-verb
To flatter.






















Unable to decide,
The mirror refused to gnathonize,
Uncertain as it was of its subject;

Saturday 11 April 2009

Frieze

FRIEZE

noun
1 : the part of an entablature between the architrave and the cornice
2 : a sculptured or richly ornamented band (as on a building or piece of furniture)
3 : a band, line, or series suggesting a frieze






















He'd added ornaments to his CV
Until it started to look like a frieze
Singing the gest of some hero.

Friday 10 April 2009

Coda

CODA

noun

1.(music) A passage which brings a movement or piece to a conclusion through prolongation.
2.(linguistics) The optional final part of a syllable, placed after its nucleus, and usually composed of one or more consonants.
3.The conclusion of a statement.




As we brought our relationship to a coda,
Trying to make it harmonious despite our dissonances
We squabbled over CDs.

Thursday 9 April 2009

Acarpous

ACARPOUS

-adj.

Not producing fruit; sterile.



Despite the splendour,
The gold, ruffles and comfort
The night wasn't kind
Refusing solace of dreams,
Acarpous, arid and dark.

Bed picture courtesy of Detail-stock at DeviantArt.

Wednesday 8 April 2009

Hypenemious

HYPENEMIOUS

-adj.
Full of wind.



It was a gloomy and hypenemious night,
and I had nothing more trenchant to do than staying home
with an old thesaurus.

Tuesday 7 April 2009

Wreak

WREAK

–verb (used with object)
1. to inflict or execute (punishment, vengeance, etc.).
2. to carry out the promptings of (one's rage, ill humour, will, desire, etc.), as on a victim or object.
















I wreaked love upon the man
Who attempted to abscond
When I finally nailed him
In a corner of my bed
Things got a little messy
-Aren’t you glad you’re not cleaning?-
Nails did a mess of the sheets
And even more of his flesh.

Bed picture courtesy of meihua-stock at DeviantArt

Monday 6 April 2009

Sennight

SENNIGHT

-noun
A week























I might hold a sennight
Without you, my love,
Or lose my soul to despair.

Sunday 5 April 2009

Burn

BURN

–verb (used without object)
1. to undergo rapid combustion or consume fuel in such a way as to give off heat, gases, and, usually, light; be on fire.
2. (of a fireplace, furnace, etc.) to contain a fire.
3. to feel heat or a physiologically similar sensation; feel pain from or as if from a fire.
4. to give off light or to glow brightly.
5. to give off heat or be hot.
6. to produce pain or a stinging sensation similar to that of fire; cause to smart.
7. Games. to be extremely close to finding a concealed object or guessing an answer.
8. to feel extreme anger.
9. to feel strong emotion or passion.
10.Chemistry.
a.to undergo combustion, either fast or slow; oxidize.
b.to undergo fission or fusion.
11.to become charred or overcooked by heat.
12.to receive a sunburn.
13.to be damned.
14.Slang. to die in an electric chair.
15.to be engraved by or as if by burning.
–verb (used with object)
16.to cause to undergo combustion or be consumed partly or wholly by fire.
17.to use as fuel or as a source of light.
18.to cause to feel the sensation of heat.
19.to overcook or char.
20.to sunburn.
21.to injure, endanger, or damage with or as if with fire
22.to execute by burning.
23.to subject to fire or treat with heat as a process of manufacturing.
24.to produce with or as if with fire.
25.to cause sharp pain or a stinging sensation.
26.to consume rapidly, esp. to squander.
27.Slang. to suffer losses or be disillusioned in business or social relationships.
28.Slang. to cheat or rob.
29.to record data on (a CD or DVD).
30.Chemistry. to cause to undergo combustion; oxidize.
31.to damage through excessive friction, as in grinding or machining; scorch.
32.Metallurgy. to oxidize (a steel ingot), as with a flame.
33.British. to scald (a wine, esp. sherry) in an iron container over a fire.
34.Cards. to put (a played or rejected card) face up at the bottom of the pack.
35.Slang. to disclose the identity of (an undercover agent, law officer, etc.) e.
–noun
36.a burned place or area: a burn where fire had ripped through the forest.
37.Pathology. An injury usually caused by heat but also by abnormal cold, chemicals, poison gas, electricity, or lightning, and characterized by a painful reddening and swelling of the epidermis (first-degree burn), damage extending into the dermis, usually with blistering (second-degree burn), or destruction of the epidermis and dermis extending into the deeper tissue with loss of pain receptors (third-degree burn).
38.the firing of a rocket engine.
39.the process or an instance of burning or baking, as in brick-making.
40.a forest or brush fire.
41.Slang. a swindle.





















They say Love can burn,
Do not surf high on those clouds:
Love does burn your flesh
-In truth Love will eat souls too-
Venus sings the blues for you.


Picture of Venus courtesy of ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA

This post is dedicated to the elves at Qikipedia who came out with the fact that the clouds on Venus were made of sulphuric acid (twitter for 3rd April), thus sparking something in the dark corners of my mind.

Saturday 4 April 2009

Darkness

DARKNESS

–noun

1. the state or quality of being dark.
2. absence or deficiency of light.
3. wickedness or evil.
4. obscurity; concealment.
5. lack of knowledge or enlightenment.
6. lack of sight; blindness.






















Darkness does not hold monsters,
These only live in our minds.
Darkness only cradles darkness
Born from our unwillingness to face the light.

(with thanks to Andrea for inspiring this one)

Friday 3 April 2009

Succour

SUCCOUR

–noun
1. help; relief; aid; assistance.
2. a person or thing that gives help, relief, aid, etc.
–verb (used with object)
3. to help or relieve.






















Day dreaming was a succour
Until the flowers mutated to creatures from the deep.

Lovely dreamer is unidentified (as well as the author of his portrait).

Thursday 2 April 2009

Belie

BELIE

-verb
1 fail to give a true idea of.
2 show to be untrue or unjustified.






















The pixie cut lent her an impish look
That she did not care to belie.

Wednesday 1 April 2009

Prick-me-dainty

PRICK-ME-DAINTY

-noun
A dandy
-adj.
Excessively finicky in dress, language and behaviour.



Cats always stroke me as a bunch of prick-me-dainties, a wholly fastidious crowd, looking at us, tin-openers, down their nose while languidly licking a paw.