Tuesday 31 July 2018

Astronomical


ASTRONOMICAL

-adj.
1. enormously large; immense
2. of or relating to astronomy


























How I long
For the astronomical feat
Of space travel and escape!
Is there anyone here?

Monday 30 July 2018

Atone

ATONE

-verb
1. (intr.; followed by “for”) to make amends or reparation (for a crime, sin, etc.)
2. (trans.) to expiate
3. (obsolete) .to be in or bring into agreement


























The long hours
Atone for the effort
Crawling across clouds
In a dream

Sunday 29 July 2018

Caper

CAPER

-noun
1. a spiny trailing Mediterranean capparidaceous shrub, Capparis spinosa, with edible flower buds
2. any of various similar plants or their edible parts

-noun
1. a playful skip or leap
2. a high-spirited escapade
3. (slang) a crime, in particular an organized robbery
4. (Australian) (informal) . a job or occupation
5. (Australian) (informal) . a person's behaviour
-verb
6. (intr.) to leap or dance about in a light-hearted manner


























How they caper
Trickling down the walls
Berries and flowers in bloom
And capers in-waiting
Basking in the sun

Saturday 28 July 2018

Conspicuous

CONSPICUOUS

-adj.
1. clearly visible; obvious or showy
2. attracting attention because of a striking quality or feature
























She looms large now
Conspicuous by her absence
Cherished memories

Friday 27 July 2018

Protuberant


PROTUBERANT

-adj.
swelling out from the surrounding surface; bulging

























Violent from an empty field
The throat of sky slit on a doorway
Protuberant with sleepy scatter
What are the stars doing?

Thursday 26 July 2018

Impractical

IMPRACTICAL

-adj.
1. not practical or workable
2. not given to practical matters or gifted with practical skills
























coming from
the ridges of the book
the dark of fire
round and impractical
flowers in a vase
of nightmares and dark

Wednesday 25 July 2018

Absence

ABSENCE

-noun
1. the state of being away
2. the time during which a person or thing is away
3. the fact of being without something; lack

















The white flowers of absence
Blooming in my heart
Sharp and brittle
Ready to draw blood
Protuberant with sighs

Tuesday 24 July 2018

Yashmak

YASHMAK
[ˈjæʃmæk  ]

-noun
a veil concealing all of the face except the eyes, worn by some Muslim women in public

























Hers is a play
Theatre yashmak
For a pantomime
On stilts

Monday 23 July 2018

Volant


VOLANT
vəʊlənt  ]

-adj.
1. (usually postpositive) (heraldry) . in a flying position
2. (rare) . flying or capable of flight
3. (poetic) . moving lightly or agilely; nimble


























a volant black and white photo
fell white strand of the world
blind like a stone in the dark
all peace symbol ignored

Sunday 22 July 2018

Sialorrhoea


SIALORRHOEA
saɪələˈrɪə]

-noun
an abnormally high production of saliva

























Nothing like
A little dream
Of succulence
To indulge

In sialorrhoea

Saturday 21 July 2018

Agile


AGILE

-adj.
1. quick in movement; nimble
2. mentally quick or acute

























Let us marvel
At the agile team
The nonchalance
And laziness

Friday 20 July 2018

Emerge


EMERGE

-verb (intr.; often followed by “from”)
1. to come up to the surface of or rise from water or other liquid
2. to come into view, as from concealment or obscurity
3. (followed by “from”) to come out (of) or live (through a difficult experience)
4. to become apparent

























Out of summer heat
A storm emerges
Heralded by a meringue
Of white clouds

Thursday 19 July 2018

Nimble


NIMBLE

-adj.
1. agile, quick, and neat in movement
2. alert; acute


























Both
Nimble
Creatures
Only one
Lunch

Wednesday 18 July 2018

Volatile


VOLATILE

-adj.
1. (of a substance) capable of readily changing from a solid or liquid form to a vapour; having a high vapour pressure and a low boiling point
2. (of persons) disposed to caprice or inconstancy; fickle; mercurial
3. (of circumstances) liable to sudden, unpredictable, or explosive change
4. lasting only a short time
5. (computing) . (of a memory) not retaining stored information when the power supply is cut off
6. (obsolete) . flying or capable of flight; volant
-noun
7. a volatile substance
8. (rare) . a winged creature

























Such a volatile creature
He could not keep still
Long enough for me
To press a button

Tuesday 17 July 2018

Saleable


SALEABLE

-adj.
fit for selling or capable of being sold


























See the reverse of problems
A statue to the traditional aspect of the life
Some large metal plane smoothly touched
By the deeply coloured shadows of dreams
A saleable depression in the dark
Hoping to make an impact.

Monday 16 July 2018

Purl

PURL

-verb
1. (intr.) (of a stream, etc.) to flow with a gentle curling or rippling movement and a murmuring sound
-noun
2. a curling movement of water; eddy
3. a murmuring sound, as of a shallow stream

-noun
1. Also called: purl stitch . a knitting stitch made by doing a plain stitch backwards
2. a decorative border, as of lace
3. gold or silver wire thread
-verb
4. to knit (a row or garment) in purl stitch
5. to edge (something) with a purl


























A gentle purl
Lulls the city
Coolness to the ears

Sunday 15 July 2018

Leek

LEEK

-noun
1. an alliaceous plant, Allium porrum, with a slender white bulb, cylindrical stem, and broad flat overlapping leaves: used in cooking
2. any of several related species, such as A. ampeloprasum (wild leek)
3. a leek, or a representation of one, as a national emblem of Wales























Caper leaves
Roasted leek

Lemon balm

Saturday 14 July 2018

Ineffective

INEFFECTIVE

-adj.
1. having no effect
2. incompetent or inefficient

























Instead of the same ineffective time crossing
The cat sits down and stares
At the infinity growing inside its eyelids
Soaking up dreams, the story of a colour
While a wall of wind blows into the sea,
And the light becomes a cloud of insects.

Friday 13 July 2018

Hydrangea

HYDRANGEA

-noun
any shrub or tree of the Asian and American genus Hydrangea, cultivated for their large clusters of white, pink, or blue flowers: family Hydrangeaceae


























in a vase of sky
balloons hanging in the dark
wet from the ridges of a book
sugar dreams taped onto a cloud
a sleepy scatter of nightmares
hydrangeas pink and blue

Thursday 12 July 2018

Reason

REASON

-noun
1. the faculty of rational argument, deduction, judgment, etc.
2. sound mind; sanity
3. a cause or motive, as for a belief, action, etc.
4. an argument in favour of or a justification for something
5. (philosophy) . the intellect regarded as a source of knowledge, as contrasted with experience
6. (logic) . grounds for a belief; a premise of an argument supporting that belief
-verb
7. (when trans., takes a clause as object) to think logically or draw (logical conclusions) from facts or premises
8. (intr.; usually followed by “with”) to urge or seek to persuade by reasoning
9. (trans.; often followed by “out”) to work out or resolve (a problem) by reasoning

























a black and white
cord of stone
broke like a great
structure of silence
without reason or call
pressed into streams



Wednesday 11 July 2018

Ineffectual


INEFFECTUAL

-adj.
1. having no effect or an inadequate effect
2. lacking in power or forcefulness; impotent

























A pile of cat and wire
Ineffectual in the background
Of a sea set and driven by
A ghost of some wiser thing,
The fact that the late sun was dark.

Tuesday 10 July 2018

Touronaut


TOURONAUT
[ˈtɔːrəˌnɔːt]

-noun
a person who pays a space agency money to travel into space















A future of touronauts
Bringing cheap souvenirs

Where mankind boldly hasn’t gone yet

Monday 9 July 2018

Override

OVERRIDE

-verb (trans.)
1. to set aside or disregard with superior authority or power
2. to supersede or annul
3. to dominate or vanquish by or as if by trampling down
4. to take manual control of (a system that is usually under automatic control)
5. to extend or pass over (to overlap)
6. to ride (a horse) too hard
7. to ride over or across
-noun
8. a device or system that can override an automatic control

























When nature
Overrides brutalism


Sunday 8 July 2018

Tourtière

TOURTIÈRE
[ˌtuːrtɪˈɛə]

-noun
type of meat pie


























Heart shaped
Tourtière
Ham and cheese

Saturday 7 July 2018

Testy

TESTY

-adj.
irritable or touchy

























She grumbles
In darkness
The testy thing
Plotting revenge

Friday 6 July 2018

Spandrel

SPANDREL

-noun
1. (architecture) an approximately triangular surface bounded by the outer curve of an arch and the adjacent wall
2. (architecture) the surface area between two adjacent arches and the horizontal cornice above them
Also: spandril


























Mad orbs
And spandrels
Hiding mysteries

Thursday 5 July 2018

Shadow

SHADOW

-noun
1. a dark image or shape cast on a surface by the interception of light rays by an opaque body
2. an area of relative darkness
3. the dark portions of a picture
4. a hint, image, or faint semblance
5. a remnant or vestige
6. a reflection
7. a threatening influence; blight
8. a spectre
9. an inseparable companion
10. a person who trails another in secret, such as a detective
11. (medicine) . a dark area on an X-ray film representing an opaque structure or part
12. (in Jungian psychology) the archetype that represents man's animal ancestors
13. (archaic or rare) protection or shelter
14. (modifier) (British) . designating a member or members of the main opposition party in Parliament who would hold ministerial office if their party were in power
15. (modifier) denoting the activities of financial institutions that do not accept deposits from investors
-verb (trans.)
16. to cast a shadow over
17. to make dark or gloomy; blight
18. to shade from light
19. to follow or trail secretly
20. (often followed by “forth”) to represent vaguely
21. (painting, drawing) . another word for shade
























Dark as a star
In the presence of sun

Shadow lives

Wednesday 4 July 2018

Orientalism

ORIENTALISM

-noun
1. knowledge of or devotion to the Orient
2. an Oriental quality, style, or trait


























A travelling painter
Bringing colours to Lorraine
Candy cane orientalism

Tuesday 3 July 2018

Wynd

WYND

-noun
(Scottish) a narrow lane or alley
























A secret door
Opened on a whim
And on a wynd
Refuses to reveal

Another world

Monday 2 July 2018

Latter

LATTER

-adj. (prenominal)
1. denoting the second or second mentioned of two: distinguished from former
2. near or nearer the end
3. more advanced in time or sequence; later
























The mind is a strange story still
A cage on the edge of a crumbling seat
Straits of steel ribbons from the moon
Gone burning in our latter dreams
Yet the dead are all the same.

Sunday 1 July 2018

Accompaniment

ACCOMPANIMENT

-noun
1. something that accompanies or is served or used with something else
2. something inessential or subsidiary that is added, as for ornament or symmetry
3. (music) . a subordinate part for an instrument, voices, or an orchestra


















Light and chives
As accompaniment
For an amuse bouche