Demise

DEMISE

–noun
1. death or decease.
2. termination of existence or operation.
3. Law .
a. a death or decease occasioning the transfer of an estate.
b. a conveyance or transfer of an estate.
4. Government . transfer of sovereignty, as by the death or deposition of the sovereign.
–verb (used with object)
5. Law . to transfer (an estate or the like) for a limited time; lease.
6. Government . to transfer (sovereignty), as by the death or abdication of the sovereign.
–verb (used without object)
7. Law . to pass by bequest, inheritance, or succession.
























Senescent year
Waiting for its demise
In a glass of sparkles.

Engram

ENGRAM

-noun
1. The supposed physical basis of an individual memory in the brain.
2. A presumed encoding in neural tissue that provides a physical basis for the persistence of memory; a memory trace.



I keep your gloves close to my heart,
Close to my lips, close to my nose,
Tracing faded presence into the fold,
Creases of leather, engrams of memories.

You wore these to church on Sunday
And when meeting secret admirers;
I can't reconcile the ideas:
A volage yet pious grand-mother.

Over the years, I'd forgotten
You were merely human.


The background picture is copyright of Willow of Willow Manor, who has put it forth as a writing prompt.
Join the writing fun at Magpie Tales.

Toil

TOIL

–noun
1. hard and continuous work; exhausting labour or effort.
2. a laborious task.
3. Archaic . battle; strife; struggle.
–verb (used without object)
4. to engage in hard and continuous work; labour arduously.
5. to move or travel with difficulty, weariness, or pain.
–verb (used with object)
6. to accomplish or produce by toil.

–noun
1. Usually, toils. a net or series of nets in which game known to be in the area is trapped or into which game outside of the area is driven.
2. Usually, toils. trap; snare: to be caught in the toils of a gigantic criminal conspiracy.
3. Archaic . any snare or trap for wild beasts.



Toils let out to dry,
Many such less worries
Paling in the warmth

Thumb

THUMB

–noun
1. the short, thick, inner digit of the human hand, next to the forefinger.
2. the corresponding digit in other animals; pollex.
3. the part of a glove or mitten for containing this digit.
4. Architecture . an ovolo or echinus moulding.
–verb (used with object)
5. to soil or wear with the thumbs in handling, as the pages of a book.
6. to glance through (the pages of a book, leaflet, etc.) quickly.
7. to play (a guitar or other instrument) with or as with the thumbs.
8. (of a hitchhiker) to solicit or get (a ride) by pointing the thumb in the desired direction of travel.






















I thumb through your body,
Looking for favourite parts
Mindless of scars and fractures
That tell of a long love tale.

Divagate

DIVAGATE

-verb
1. To wander; stray.
2. To digress in speech.



Here our road divagates into nothingness
Strangled silences and dire hesitations
Here we must part or run into a slow death
Suffocation by unspoken words or hate.

Fulsome

FULSOME

-adj.
1. Effusive; lavish.
2. Excessive to the point of being offensive.



Fulsome clouds
Painting summer's end.
New ink scent.

Halcyon

HALCYON

-adj.
1. calm; peaceful; tranquil.
2. rich; wealthy; prosperous.
3. happy; joyful; carefree.
4. of or pertaining to the halcyon or kingfisher.
–noun
5. a mythical bird, usually identified with the kingfisher, said to breed about the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea, and to have the power of charming winds and waves into calmness.
6. any of various kingfishers, especially of the genus Halcyon.
7. ( initial capital letter ) Classical Mythology . a daughter of Aeolus who, with her husband, Ceyx, was transformed into a kingfisher.



Halcyon clouds
Dreaming of being birds
But scared of water

Tattle

TATTLE

–verb (used without object)
1. to let out secrets.
2. to chatter, prate, or gossip.
–verb (used with object)
3. to utter idly; disclose by gossiping.
–noun
4. the act of tattling.
5. idle talk; chatter; gossip.























Tattles come to life
Gaining in complexity.
Santa Claus is real!

Ebullient

EBULLIENT

-adj.
1. boiling, agitated
2. characterized by ebullience; having or showing liveliness and enthusiasm






















Ebullient times
Hard on the grumpy mind
Too many glitters ready to explode

Orography

OROGRAPHY

–noun
the branch of physical geography dealing with mountains.



Lavishing orography attention
I survey your valleys and summits
Looking for ore
Finding snow

Pneuma

PNEUMA

-noun
Spirit, soul.






















Pneuma filled places
Haunting rather than haunted
Wind moving shadows

Stroot

STROOT

-v. trans.
To swell out; to strut. (obsolete)






















Autumn showers
Overtaking the lawn
Strooting mushrooms

Prone

PRONE

–adj.
1. having a natural inclination or tendency to something; disposed; liable.
2. having the front or ventral part downward; lying face downward.
3. lying flat; prostrate.
4. having a downward direction or slope.
5. having the palm downward, as the hand.

–noun
a sermon or a brief hortatory introduction to a sermon, usually delivered at a service at which the Eucharist is celebrated.






















Prone lying kitty
Prone to lying too

Crapulous

CRAPULOUS

-adj.
1. marked by intemperance especially in eating or drinking
2. sick from excessive indulgence in liquor























I fear crapulous times ahead
But refuse to fast in wait.

Precatory

PRECATORY

-adj.
1. Expressing a request.
2. Nonbinding: only expressing a wish or giving a suggestion.






















Precatory angels
Offering expiation
But refusing grace

Novercal

NOVERCAL

–adj.
of, like, or befitting a stepmother.






















I attempt novercal attention
Applying best behaviour to the cats
Only to be branded as evil.

Ontology

ONTOLOGY

–noun
1. philosophy the branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature of being
2. logic the set of entities presupposed by a theory
3. Computing
a. A systematic account of Existence.
b. (From philosophy) An explicit formal specification of how to represent the objects, concepts and other entities that are assumed to exist in some area of interest and the relationships that hold among them.
c. The hierarchical structuring of knowledge about things by subcategorising them according to their essential (or at least relevant and/or cognitive) qualities.






















I must confess unrest
Seeing ontology applied to servers
What gods are we creating
That will smother us?

Bistre

BISTRE

-noun
1. a yellowish-brown to dark-brown pigment made from the soot of burned wood
2. any of various colors in this range























Bistre statues
Showing off in a corner
Not much to boast of.

Goniometer

GONIOMETER

–noun
an instrument for measuring solid angles, as of crystals.




Women are fabled
For using secret goniometers
To judge a man's solidity
It is unfortunate that
Most of the time
Calibration of the instrument
Has been overlooked.

Dilettante

DILETTANTE

–noun
1. a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, especially in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler.
2. a lover of an art or science, especially of a fine art.
–adj.
3. of or pertaining to dilettantes.






















They call me an amateur,
The word rank and bitter to my ears
I prefer that of dilettante
Being one that enjoys the arts
A mindless and blissful dabbler.

Ferly

FERLY

-adj.
1. Fearful; terrible.
2. Unexpected; sudden.
3. Singular; wonderful; extraordinary.
-noun
4. A wonder; a strange deed, event, or object.























Ferly morsel
Autumn fragrance captured
Comfort food.

Cater-cousin

CATER-COUSIN

-noun
An intimate friend.






















My cat
Is a cater-cousin
In some fashion:
She loves to sleep with me
On me.

Cachinnate

CACHINNATE

–verb (used without object)
to laugh loudly or immoderately.



Lost in whiteness
Crows cachinnate over snow
Making cold colder.

Eddy

EDDY

–noun
1. a current at variance with the main current in a stream of liquid or gas, esp. one having a rotary or whirling motion.
2. a small whirlpool.
3. any similar current, as of air, dust, or fog.
4. a current or trend, as of opinion or events, running counter to the main current.
–verb (used with or without object)
5. to move or whirl in eddies.






















I let myself sucked into
The eddies of time
An eternal return of the cycle
Yet not quite:
Exactitude as hell promises
Deviations delight.

Crowd

CROWD

–noun
1. A large number of persons gathered together; a throng.
2. The common people; the populace.
3. A group of people united by a common characteristic, as age, interest, or vocation.
4. A group of people attending a public function; an audience.
5. A large number of things positioned or considered together.
–verb int.
6. To congregate in a restricted area; throng.
7. To advance by pressing or shoving.
–verb trans.
8. To force by or as if by pressing or shoving.
9. To draw or stand near to: The batter crowded the plate.
10. To press, cram, or force tightly together: crowded the clothes into the closet.
11. To fill or occupy to overflowing: Books crowded the shelves.
12. Informal To put pressure on, as to pay a debt.
–noun
13. An ancient Celtic stringed instrument that was bowed or plucked. Also called crwth.
15. Chiefly British A fiddle.























Gather about,
Bear with me as I draw the crowd
Keeping it tense
The old bow quivering with effort
Ready for music.


Background picture courtesy of Angela Anderson-Cobb

Chortle

CHORTLE

-noun
1. a noisy joyful laugh, often featuring a snort
-int. and trans. verb
2. to laugh or express with a chortle






















Here by
The fountain
Full of chortles
I can feel your heart
As we hold hands
Beating wild
With mine.

Strop

STROP

–noun
1. any of several devices for sharpening razors, especially a strip of leather or other flexible material.
2. Also, strap. Nautical, Machinery .
a. a rope or a band of metal surrounding and supporting a block, etc.
b. a metal band surrounding the pulley of a block to transmit the load on the pulley to its hook or shackle.
c. a rope sling, as for handling cargo.
d. a ring or grommet of rope.
–verb (used with object)
3. to sharpen on or as if on a strop.



Let this be said
And not forgotten:
Your tongue has known the strop
And cuts to the core.

Felicific

FELICIFIC

–adj.
causing or tending to cause happiness.






















Felicific food
Shared with friends and love.
Magic calories.

Mordacious

MORDACIOUS

–adj.
1. biting or given to biting.
2. sharp or caustic in style, tone, etc.



Hers is a mordacious smile
Dreams full of playfull nipping
Tender morsels to be teased.

Samizdat

SAMIZDAT

-noun
An underground publishing system used to print and circulate banned literature clandestinely. Also, such literature.



Holland was once offering a unique samidzat against censure.
Nowadays, Internet fills the gap.
But censure never stops.

Pristine

PRISTINE

–adj.
1. having its original purity; uncorrupted or unsullied.
2. of or pertaining to the earliest period or state; primitive.






















For days we forgot you
But then we saw you had not been out
Pristine snow telling on your weakness
And came back
Too late.


The background picture is copyright of Willow of Willow Manor, who has put it forth as a writing prompt.
Join the writing fun at Magpie Tales.

Onomancy

ONOMANCY

-noun
Divination by the letters of a name.



Trying to find
The perfect name
For my characters
Onomancy
Less potent than
Alliteration

Rejectamenta

REJECTAMENTA

–plural noun
things or matter rejected as useless or worthless.






















Once
I threw rejecmenta at the clouds
Who stole the lot and fled
Now I look at the cup in my hand
And wonder how much
Of that
Is back in there.

Zythepsary

ZYTHEPSARY

-noun
A brewery.























Lauding the zythepsaries
Of this world
Tipsy poppet then attempts
To celebrate
With a few drinking songs
By Carl Orff

Beek

BEEK

–verb (used with or without object). Scottish or North England
1. to bask or warm in the sunshine or before a fireplace, stove, or bonfire.
2. (of wood) to season by exposure to heat






















In my older age
Beeked by eons of sunshine
I purr in the glow
Choosing things to remember
Basking in the glow of love.

Incredulous

INCREDULOUS

–adj.
1. not credulous; disinclined or indisposed to believe; skeptical; disbelieving
2. indicating or showing unbelief























Starved kitty
Listens on
Incredulous
As we tell her
She is still
On a diet

Syzygy

SYZYGY

–noun
1. Astronomy . an alignment of three celestial objects, as the sun, the earth, and either the moon or a planet.
2. Classical Prosody . a group or combination of two feet, sometimes restricted to a combination of two feet of different kinds.
3. any two related things, either alike or opposite.



For a split moment we stand
A perfect syzygy of stupor
Then she screams
And I scream
And you flee
Leaving our world to explode
Under the weight of the unforgivable,
The error of coming home early.

Acme

ACME

–noun
the highest point; summit; peak






















You thought you'd hit your acme
When you seduced the highest note
But your voice broke
Unable to hold on to such treasure
And now you have to look on
As others toy with your coveted jewel

Perite

PERITE

-adj.
Obsolete . skilled






















Perite hands
Made your coat
Wrapped with eternal fall
Cuddly with moss and humus
A cloak of fertility
And ever returning life.

Boustrophedon

BOUSTROPHEDON

-noun
the writing of alternate lines in opposite directions (as from left to right and from right to left)



Our love story
Is written in boustrophedon
Its lines parallel
To avoid meeting

Nigh

NIGH

–adv.
1. near in space, time, or relation.
2. nearly; almost; (often followed by "on" or "onto").
–adj.
3. near; approaching.
4. short or direct.
5.(of an animal or vehicle) being on the left side.
6.Archaic . parsimonious; stingy.
–preposition
7.near.
–verb (used without object), verb (used with object)
8.Archaic . to approach.



Humanity spent centuries calling out “the end is nigh”. When it did strike, nobody believed it was happening: Life went on.

Tyrotoxism

TYROTOXISM

-noun
Poisoning by cheese or any milk product.






















You say
I fear no tyrotoxism
In truth I do
It's just another luscious spice
To my addiction

Gamboge

GAMBOGE

-noun
1. A strong yellow colour.
2. A gum resin obtained from the sap of trees of the genus Garcinia, used as a yellow pigment and as a cathartic.























Warm heaters
Gamboge comfort
Willing minions
Tasty food
And yet…
Happiness is a fleeting creature.

Rampage

RAMPAGE

–noun
1. violent or excited behaviour that is reckless, uncontrolled, or destructive.
2. a state of violent anger or agitation.
–verb (used without object)
3. to rush, move, or act furiously or violently






















Rampage in my kitchen
Or merely emphatic cooking?
The opinions diverge
Making a mess of the counter top,
Sprinkling flour and herbs,
Arranging a curve of crumbs,
Splattering sauce and water,
Colourful arrays on tiles.
This is not a kitchen, Baby!
This is art.

Inchoate

INCHOATE

–adj.
1. not yet completed or fully developed; rudimentary.
2. just begun; incipient.
3. not organized; lacking order






















I see inchoate storms
Churning in your eyes
Looking for an escape
And worlds to disrupt.

Mesonoxian

MESONOXIAN

-adj.
Pertaining to the hour of midnight.






















Look at her heart
Dark with mesonoxian light,
Poor frustrated moth.

Distaff

DISTAFF

-adj.
Of or relating to women.
-noun
1. A staff for holding flax, wool, etc. for spinning.
2. Women considered collectively.
3. A woman's work or domain.



Distaff task or not
I could not care less:
I demand peeled grapes
For the pain of hearing you whine.

Peristrephic

PERISTREPHIC

-adj.
Turning around; rotatory; revolving























The little orange planet had been peristrephic
Before getting hit by the meteorite that destroyed its center of gravity.
Now it errs in a corner of the green galaxy, crying over its wounds.

Yaw

YAW

–verb (used without object)
1. to deviate temporarily from a straight course, as a ship.
2. (of an aircraft) to have a motion about its vertical axis.
3. (of a rocket or guided missile) to deviate from a stable flight attitude by oscillation of the longitudinal axis in the horizontal plane.
–verb (used with object)
4. to cause to yaw.
–noun
5. a movement of deviation from a direct course, as of a ship.
6. a motion of an aircraft about its vertical axis.
7. an angle, to the right or left, determined by the direction of motion of an aircraft or spacecraft and its vertical and longitudinal plane of symmetry.
8. (of a rocket or guided missile)
a. the act of yawing.
b. the angular displacement of the longitudinal axis due to yawing.

–noun
Pathology . one of the lesions of yaws, an infectious, non-venereal tropical disease, primarily of children, characterized by raspberry-like eruptions of the skin and caused by a spirochete, Treponema Pertenue, that is closely related to the agent of syphilis.






















Wrapped around my beer
I wonder
Is it the world yawing
Or is it me?

Wisp

WISP

–noun
1. a handful or small bundle of straw, hay, or the like.
2. any thin tuft, lock, mass, etc.
3. a thin puff or streak, as of smoke; slender trace.
4. a person or thing that is small, delicate, or barely discernible
5. a whisk broom.
6. Chiefly British Dialect .
a. a pad or twist of straw, as used to rub down a horse.
b. a twisted bit of straw used as a torch.
7. a will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus.
–verb (used with object)
8. to twist into a wisp.






















Grooming herself
She frees her fur of
Unsightly wisps
And the like