Lustre

LUSTRE

-noun

1. reflected light; sheen; gloss

2. radiance or brilliance of light

3. great splendour of accomplishment, beauty, etc.

4. a substance used to polish or put a gloss on a surface

5. a vase or chandelier from which hang cut-glass drops

6. a drop-shaped piece of cut glass or crystal used as a decoration on a chandelier, vase, etc.

7. a shiny metallic surface on some pottery and porcelain

8. (mineralogy) the way in which light is reflected from the surface of a mineral. It is one of the properties by which minerals are defined

-verb

9. to make, be, or become lustrous

A little seasonal lustre

Showing the way into the future

But who will pay the bill?

Tittup

TITTUP

-verb

1. (intr.) to prance or frolic

-noun

2. a caper

3. the sound made by high-heeled shoes

Clear in the sky

Balloons tittup

Safely out of reach

Octopus

OCTOPUS

-noun

1. any cephalopod mollusc of the genera Octopus, Eledone, etc,. having a soft oval body with eight long suckered tentacles and occurring at the sea bottom: order Octopoda (octopods)

2. a powerful influential organization with far-reaching effects, especially harmful ones

A few tentacles at a time

The mighty octopus looks harmless

And utterly delicious

Peltry

PELTRY

-noun

the pelts of animals collectively

He is an ensign

For the art of peltry

All fluff against

Winter's frosts

Suppletory

SUPPLETORY

-adj.

Archaic . remedying deficiencies; supplementary

In

Vain

My hands

Close on stone

Looking for caress

For suppletory love and warmth

Winter has robbed it

Of solace

Passion

And

Hope

Lamina

LAMINA

-noun

a thin plate or layer, especially of bone or mineral

(botany) the flat blade of a leaf, petal, or thallus

Street paintings

Faint lamina of art

Soon whitewashed over

Crosshatch

CROSSHATCH

-verb

(drawing) to shade or hatch (forms, figures, etc.) with two or more sets of parallel lines that cross one another

This is my life

Crosshatched into shade

Still holding on

Quango

QUANGO

-noun

a semi-public government-financed administrative body whose members are appointed by the government

I once worked for a quango

But it was a lifetime away

Now I am looking at the horizon

And wonder if any of this was true

Pretence

PRETENCE

-noun

1. the act of pretending

2. a false display; affectation

3. a claim, especially a false one, to a right, title, or distinction

4. make-believe or feigning

5. a false claim or allegation; pretext

There is much pretence

In this, the local wine

But the vines are so pretty

Coffee

COFFEE

-noun

1. a drink consisting of an infusion of the roasted and ground or crushed seeds of the coffee tree

2. Also called: coffee beans. the bean-like seeds of the coffee tree, used to make this beverage

3. a medium to dark brown colour

Mornings magic brew

Coffee in many forms

(I still prefer tea)

Wiseacre

WISEACRE

-noun

1. a person who wishes to seem wise

2. a wise person: often used facetiously or contemptuously

His pretence

His stance as a wiseacre

All fade in a sunbeam

Compluvium

COMPLUVIUM

-noun

(Roman history) . an unroofed space over the atrium in a Roman house, through which rain fell and was collected

She pushes out, eager

To meet the compluvium

Begging for rain

Metamorphosis

METAMORPHOSIS

-noun

1. a complete change of physical form or substance

2. a complete change of character, appearance, etc.

3. a person or thing that has undergone metamorphosis

4. (zoology) the rapid transformation of a larva into an adult that occurs in certain animals, for example the stage between tadpole and frog or between chrysalis and butterfly

The weather oscillates like this

Tempted by the notion of metamorphosis

From sunny into cloudy into diluvium

In just the time of a heart beat