Monday 31 January 2011

Tripudiate

TRIPUDIATE

-verb int.
To dance



Wrinkled petals burnt
By too much tripudiating.
Cold winds of winter.

Sunday 30 January 2011

Autoschediastical

AUTOSCHEDIASTICAL

-adj.
1. Something improvised or extemporized.






















An autoschediastical break
Bore the chocolate Santa ill.

Saturday 29 January 2011

Yare

YARE

–adj.

1. quick; agile; lively.
2. (of a ship) quick to the helm; easily handled or manoeuvered.
3. Archaic .
a. ready; prepared.
b. nimble; quick.



A yare cat
She really is
Yet slothful
To an art
Dedicated to napping
A true sleep artist.

Friday 28 January 2011

Obtest

OBTEST

–verb (used with object)
1. to invoke as witness.
2. to supplicate earnestly; beseech.
–verb (used without object)
3. to protest.
4. to make supplication; beseech.






















Obstinate greens
Obtest against fragility.
Fertile baked clay

Thursday 27 January 2011

Bear

BEAR

–verb (used with object)
1. to hold up; support.
2. to hold or remain firm under (a load).
3. to bring forth (young); give birth to.
4. to produce by natural growth.
5. to hold up under; be capable of.
6. to press or push against.
7. to hold or carry (oneself, one's body, one's head, etc.).
8. to conduct (oneself).
9. to suffer; endure; undergo.
10. to sustain without yielding or suffering injury; tolerate (usually used in negative constructions, unless qualified).
11. to be fit for or worthy of.
12. to carry; bring.
13. to carry in the mind or heart.
14. to transmit or spread (gossip, tales, etc.).
15. to render; afford; give.
16. to lead; guide; take.
17. to have and be entitled to.
18. to exhibit; show.
19. to accept or have, as an obligation.
20. to stand in (a relation or ratio); have or show correlatively.
21. to possess, as a quality or characteristic; have in or on.
22. to have and use; exercise.
–verb (used without object)
23. to tend in a course or direction; move; go.
24. to be located or situated.
25. to bring forth young or fruit

–noun

1. any of the plantigrade, carnivorous or omnivorous mammals of the family Ursidae, having massive bodies, coarse heavy fur, relatively short limbs, and almost rudimentary tails.
2. any of various animals resembling the bear, as the ant bear.
3. a gruff, burly, clumsy, bad-mannered, or rude person.
4. a person who believes that market prices, especially of stocks, will decline..
5. Informal . a person who shows great ability, enthusiasm, stamina, etc..
6. ( initial capital letter ) Astronomy . either of two constellations, Ursa Major or Ursa Minor.
7. Informal . a player at cards who rarely bluffs.
8. ( initial capital letter ) Russia.
–adj.
9. having to do with or marked by declining prices, as of stocks: bear market.
–verb (used with object)
10. Stock Exchange . to force prices down in (a market, stock, etc.).
























Is it the rock that bears the bear?
Or the bear that bears the rock?

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Wormwood

WORMWOOD

.noun

1. A plant of the genus Artemisia, used in making absinthe and medicines.
2. Something that brings bitterness or grief.






















I loved the taste of you
The bitterness and the grit
Making you all the more interesting
But I know now
It was all wormwood

Tuesday 25 January 2011

Selcouth

SELCOUTH

–adj.
Archaic . strange; uncommon.






















Selcouth presence
A flower that might have been
Tied to a ruin

Monday 24 January 2011

Chrestomathy

CHRESTOMATHY

-noun
1. a selection of passages used to help learn a language
2. a volume of selected passages or stories of an author






















I used these
As a chrestomathy of love
But they refuse to tell
Their secret.

Sunday 23 January 2011

Edible

EDIBLE

–adj.
1. fit to be eaten as food; eatable; esculent.
–noun
2. Usually, edibles. edible substances; food.






















An offer
Broccoli in flower
Edible love.

Saturday 22 January 2011

Pillion

PILLION

–noun
1. a pad or cushion attached behind a saddle, especially as a seat for a woman.
2. a pad, cushion, saddle, or the like, used as a passenger seat on a bicycle, motor scooter, etc.
3. a passenger's saddle or seat behind the driver's seat on a motorcycle.






















She declared
That cushion her right
Her pillion
Dominion
Her sole property in brief
Her most righteous place.

Friday 21 January 2011

Stint

STINT

–verb (used without object)

1. to be frugal; get along on a scanty allowance.
2. Archaic . to cease action; desist.
–verb (used with object)
3. to limit to a certain amount, number, share, or allowance, often unduly; set limits to; restrict.
4. Archaic . to bring to an end; check.
–noun
5. a period of time spent doing something.
6. an allotted amount or piece of work.
7. limitation or restriction, especially as to amount.
8. a limited, prescribed, or expected quantity, share, rate, etc.
9. Obsolete . a pause; halt.

–noun
any of various small sandpipers of the genus Calidris, as the least sandpiper.



Love went on
For the briefest stint
Quite intense
Yet shallow
Frugal wave leaving the shore
Dry, undisturbed.

Thursday 20 January 2011

Aver

AVER

–verb (used with object)
1. to assert or affirm with confidence; declare in a positive or peremptory manner.
2. Law . to allege as a fact.






















She avers being wronged
By deficiency in cuddles and food.
No compensation will ever be enough
To placate her ire.

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Dendroid

DENDROID

-adj.
Resembling, branching like, or shaped like a tree.



Dendroid love in bloom
Branching out towards any opportunity
But pruned back to a bonsai's convoluted shape
Exquisite and painful monogamy

Tuesday 18 January 2011

Banjax

BANJAX

-verb
1. To ruin or destroy.
-noun
2. (chiefly Irish, informal) A mess or undesirable situation made as a result of incompetence.























Banjax in the kitchen
A cooking storm gone feral
A feast on the table

Monday 17 January 2011

Snib

SNIB

–noun
1. a bolt, catch, lock, or fastening on a door or window.
2. the catch that holds the bolt on a lock.
–verb (used with object)
3. to bolt or fasten (a door or window).






















Against you
I had snibbed the door
Forever
And ever
Forsaking our memories
With our common lies

Sunday 16 January 2011

Svelte

SVELTE

-adj.
1. Slender; lithe.
2. Graceful; suave.






















A svelte determined figure
She puts a dainty foot down
Sure of her facts, of her rights
Dusting should come about
At least once a week.

Saturday 15 January 2011

Wash

WASH

–verb (used with object)
1. to apply water or some other liquid to (something or someone) for the purpose of cleansing; cleanse by dipping, rubbing, or scrubbing in water or some other liquid.
2. to remove (dirt, stains, paint, or any matter) by or as by the action of water (usually followed by “out”, “off”, etc.).
3. to free from spiritual defilement or from sin, guilt, etc.
4. to bathe, wet, or moisten with water or other liquid.
5. to flow through, over, or against.
6. to carry, bring, remove, or deposit (something) by means of water or any liquid, or as the water or liquid does (often followed by “up”, “down”, or “along”)
7. to wear or diminish, as water does by flowing over or against a surface (often followed by “out” or “away”)
8. (of water) to form by flowing over and eroding a surface.
9. Mining .
a. to subject (earth or ore) to the action or force of water in order to separate valuable material.
b. to separate (valuable material) in this way.
10. to purify (a gas or gaseous mixture) by passage through or over a liquid.
11. to cover with a watery or thin coat of colour.
12. to overlay with a thin coat or deposit of metal.
–verb (used without object)
13. to wash oneself.
14. to wash clothes.
15. to cleanse anything with or in water or other liquid.
16. to undergo washing without injury, especially shrinking or fading: fabrics guaranteed to wash.
17. Informal . to be found true, valid, or real when tested or closely scrutinized; stand being put to the proof.
18. to be carried or driven by water (often followed by “along” or “ashore”).
19. to flow or beat with a lapping sound, as waves on a shore.
20. to move along in or as in waves, or with a rushing movement, as water.
21. to be eroded, as by a stream or by rainfall: a hillside that washes frequently.
22. to be removed by the action of water (often followed by “away”).
–noun
23. the act or process of washing with water or other liquid.
24. a quantity of clothes, linens, etc., washed, or to be washed, at one time.
25. a liquid with which something is washed, wetted, coloured, overspread, etc.
26. the flow, sweep, dash, or breaking of water.
27. the sound made by this.
28. water moving along in waves or with a rushing movement.
29. the rough or broken water left behind a moving ship, boat, etc.; wake.
30. Aeronautics . the disturbance in the air left behind by a moving airplane or any of its parts.
31. any of various liquids for grooming or cosmetic purposes.
32. a lotion or other liquid having medicinal properties, as an antiseptic solution or the like (often used in combination).
33. Mining . minerals from which valuable material can be extracted by washing.
34. the wearing away of the shore by breaking waves.
35. a tract of land washed by the action of the sea or a river.
36. a marsh, fen, or bog.
37. a small stream or shallow pool.
38. a shallow arm of the sea or a shallow part of a river.
39. a depression or channel formed by flowing water.
40. Geology . alluvial matter transferred and deposited by flowing water.
41. Also called dry wash. Western U.S. the dry bed of an intermittent stream.
42. a broad, thin layer of colour applied by a continuous movement of the brush, as in water-colour painting.
43. Also called watershed, weathering. Architecture .
a. an upper surface so inclined as to shed rain water from a building.
b. any member of a building having such a surface.
44. Also, washing. a thin coat of metal applied in liquid form.
45. waste liquid matter, refuse, food, etc., from the kitchen, as for hogs; swill (often used in combination).
46. washy or weak liquor or liquid food.
47. the fermented wort from which the spirit is extracted in distilling.
48. Informal . an action that yields neither gain nor loss.
–adj.
49. capable of being washed without shrinking, fading, etc.; washable.



She applies a wash
In a sweeping motion
Over and over
Always on the same spot
I often wonder
If this is not some type of
Self hypnotism

Friday 14 January 2011

Moor

MOOR

–noun
1. a tract of open, peaty, wasteland, often overgrown with heath, common in high latitudes and altitudes where drainage is poor; heath.
2. a tract of land preserved for game.

–verb (used with object)
1. to secure (a ship, boat, dirigible, etc.) in a particular place, as by cables and anchors or by lines.
2. to fix firmly; secure.
–verb (used without object)
3. to moor a ship, small boat, etc.
4. to be made secure by cables or the like.
–noun
5. the act of mooring.






















I often wonder about
Fate
Mooring meanings together
Securing them to one same word,
While I trace provenance
For a clue
A Motive
For their gathering.

Thursday 13 January 2011

Ventifact

VENTIFACT

-noun
A stone shaped, polished, or faceted by windblown sand.
























Historical ventifacts
Modelled by the breath of time
And inquisitive minds

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Nyctophobia

NYCTOPHOBIA

-noun
An abnormal fear of night or darkness.



January days
Suffering nyctophobia
Pushing night away

Tuesday 11 January 2011

Horripilation

HORRIPILATION

–noun
a bristling of the hair on the skin from cold, fear, etc.; goose flesh.



Old marble is cold
Yet the gull does not contemplate
Horripilation.

Monday 10 January 2011

Palpitate

PALPITATE

-verb
1. To pulsate with unusual rapidity from exertion, emotion, disease, etc.; flutter.
2. To cause to pulsate or tremble.























Life still palpitates
Within the baked surface
Each man facing death
Differently.

Sunday 9 January 2011

Lagniappe

LAGNIAPPE

-noun
1. A small gift given with a purchase to a customer, for good measure.
2. A gratuity or tip.
3. An unexpected or indirect benefit.



I am chasing smiles
Few feeble lagniappes
In a life of love,
Ingrained servitude,
And habit blindness.

Saturday 8 January 2011

Heuristic

HEURISTIC

–adj.
1. serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
2. encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error.
3. of, pertaining to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.
4. Computers, Mathematics . pertaining to a trial-and-error method of problem solving used when an algorithmic approach is impractical.
–noun
5. a heuristic method of argument.
6. the study of heuristic procedure.



I justify my book craving
With heuristics
Research for my stories
Lies.

Friday 7 January 2011

Neuston

NEUSTON

-noun
The aggregate of minute aquatic organisms that inhabit the surface of a body of water.






















I can see stars and
Minute galaxies
Spread on my windshield
Neuston laden ice
Wild baroque patterns
Combined into art

Thursday 6 January 2011

Exogamy

EXOGAMY

-noun
Marriage outside one's tribe or a similar social unit.























They dance
The exogamy waltz
While the world stares and frowns
Not a care on their mind.

Wednesday 5 January 2011

Aeneous

AENEOUS

–adj.
bronze-coloured























Aeneous backside
Marred by decay and time
Nonetheless alluring
Centuries down the line.

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Burke

BURKE

–verb (used with object)
1. to murder, as by suffocation, so as to leave no or few marks of violence.
2. to suppress or get rid of by some indirect manoeuvre.



Snow and ice weapons
On some burking manoeuvre.
Dull shovelling sounds.

Monday 3 January 2011

Farouche

FAROUCHE

-adj.
1. Sullenly unsociable or shy.
2. Fierce.



Farouche clouds
A promise of hail
Or world's end.

Sunday 2 January 2011

Quatopygia

QUATOPYGIA

-Noun
An enticing movement of a man or woman's rear end.























Looking up,
I see no quatopygia
But my eyes do the dance.
And do they dance!

Saturday 1 January 2011

Scurf

SCURF

–noun

1. the scales or small shreds of epidermis that are continually exfoliated from the skin.
2. any scaly matter or incrustation on a surface.



Chasing last years' scurf
Scrubbing, scouring, polishing.
New year remains old.


Happy New(ish) Year