Subitize

SUBITIZE

-verb (intr. or trans.)
To perceive, without counting, the number of objects in a small group.



To understand the sea
Just subitize drops in a wave
And add mystery.

Anomia

ANOMIA

-noun
The inability to recall names of people or objects.






















That thing
That thing you've got
It's driving me crazy
Anomia - the word anemia
The madness of it all
The more I battle
The more I lose
Grasp

Anneal

ANNEAL

-verb
1. To toughen or temper.
2. To heat (glass, earthenware, metals, etc.) to remove or prevent internal stress.
3. To free from internal stress by heating and gradually cooling.
4. To fuse colors onto (a vitreous or metallic surface) by heating.






















With each rejection
My heart's skin annealed
Tempered stained glass vessel
With leaden wings

Peevish

PEEVISH

–adj.
1. cross, querulous, or fretful, as from vexation or discontent.
2. showing annoyance, irritation, or bad mood.
3. perverse or obstinate.























Peevish parenting birds
Showering insults and pine cones
Onto adventurous cats

Drake

DRAKE

–noun
a male duck.

–noun
1. a small cannon, used especially in the 17th and 18th centuries.
2. Angling . an artificial fly resembling a mayfly
3. Archaic . a dragon.























Here be drakes!
Said the maps
Our heads in the clouds
We read dragons
They meant ducks.

Knaggy

KNAGGY

-adj.
Knotty; rough; rugged.






















Knaggy cookies
Teasing the tongue
With texture to contrast
Sweetness and fat

Clarion

CLARION

-adj.
Loud and clear.
-noun
An ancient trumpet used as a signal in war.























Pointed teeth
And a clarion message:
Time for another nap

Ouch

OUCH

-noun
A brooch or buckle set with precious stones.




Ouch!
I just pricked my finger
With my grand mother's ouch.

Lethologica

LETHOLOGICA

-noun
the inability to remember a word or put your finger on the right word



I stumble
Caught between linguistic traps,
A victim of lethologica
And confusion
Happy for a name for the condition
Which is not Alzheimer's.

Parietal

PARIETAL

–adj.
1. Anatomy . of, pertaining to, or situated near the side and top of the skull or the parietal bone.
2. Biology . of or pertaining to parietes or structural walls.
3. Botany . pertaining to or arising from a wall: usually applied to ovules when they proceed from or are borne on the walls or sides of the ovary.

























Blind
But for his parietal eye
His tune would be lacking depth of field
If it wasn't for his heart's
Compound vision

Spar

SPAR

–noun
1. Nautical . a stout pole such as those used for masts, etc.; a mast, yard, boom, gaff, or the like.
2. Aeronautics . a principal lateral member of the framework of a wing of an airplane.
–verb (used with object)
3. to provide or make with spars.

–verb (used without object)
1. (of boxers) to make the motions of attack and defense with the arms and fists, especially as a part of training.
2. to box, especially with light blows.
3. to strike or attack with the feet or spurs, as gamecocks do.
4. to bandy words; dispute.
–noun
5. a motion of sparring.
6. a boxing match.
7. a dispute.

–noun
any of various more or less lustrous crystalline minerals






















I often wonder
About angels physiology
Their skeletons and mechanics
If their wings have spars
If they have guts
Or brains, even.

Calliopean

CALLIOPEAN

-adj.
Piercingly loud.



She might have been called
Venus calliopean
But centuries erased her voice
She just stares now
Unable to cry “Fools!” anymore.

Smellfungus

SMELLFUNGUS

-noun
an excessively fault finding person






















Ô smelfungus,
Why can't I call this
A savoury tiramisu?

Soubrette

SOUBRETTE

-noun
1. A maidservant or lady's maid in a play or an opera, especially one who displays coquetry and engages in intrigue.
2. A young woman regarded as flirtatious.
3. A soprano who sings supporting roles in comic opera.






















If
We had known
Of her talent
A shameless flirt
Plying to all
She'd have been called
Soubrette


My poetry chapbook "On Cloud 285" is available for pre-order THERE.

Seadog

SEADOG

-noun
1. A veteran sailor.
2. A harbor seal.
3. A pirate or privateer.
4. A faint rainbow-like formation seen in foggy conditions. Also called mistbow, fogbow, and white rainbow.





















Looking for seadogs
In dubious puddles
I found only mud

Extol

EXTOL

–verb (used with object)
to praise highly; laud; eulogize



His gardening skills extolled
He then garnished every walls
Drunk on praise, avid for more.

Gris-gris

GRIS-GRIS

-noun
A charm, amulet, or fetish.























My grand-mother's owl
A truly cherished gris-gris
Will it make me wise?

Blossom

BLOSSOM

–noun Botany .
1. the flower of a plant, especially of one producing an edible fruit.
2. the state of flowering.
–verb (used without object)
3. Botany . to produce or yield blossoms.
4. to flourish; develop (often followed by “into”  or “out” ).
5. (of a parachute) to open.



Shy blossoms sing
Hiding in the greenery
Unveiled by their scent

Digital

DIGITAL

–adj.
1. of or pertaining to a digit or finger.
2. resembling a digit or finger.
3. manipulated with a finger or the fingertips.
4. displaying a readout in digital form.
5. having digits or digit-like parts.
6. of, pertaining to, or using data in the form of numerical digits.
7. Computers . involving or using numerical digits expressed in a scale of notation to represent discretely all variables occurring in a problem.
8. of, pertaining to, or using numerical calculations.
9. available in electronic form; readable and manipulable by computer.
–noun
10. one of the keys or finger levers of keyboard instruments.




You have gone digital, binary even,
And I am lost in a forest of 1 and 0s,
Looking for some more sophisticated emotion
Or a simpler heart beat still.

Undertone

UNDERTONE

-noun
1. A color modified by an underlying color.
2. A low or subdued tone of speaking.
3. An unobtrusive or background sound.
4. An underlying quality or element; undercurrent.






















Greenery
With an undertone of earth
And spring

Slander

SLANDER

–noun
1. defamation; calumny.
2. a malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report.
3. Law . defamation by oral utterance rather than by writing, pictures, etc.
–verb (used with object)
4. to utter slander against; defame.
–verb (used without object)
5. to utter or circulate slander.



Evidence of murder on the boards...
“Slander!” she cries, outraged
But she still burps a fistful of down.

Afflatus

AFFLATUS

-noun
A divine imparting of knowledge; inspiration.






















Afflatus blowing grass about
A song of seasons
Time to mow the wind or lawn.

Misalliance

MISALLIANCE

–noun
an improper or incompatible association, especially in marriage;
also: mésalliance.





















Soft petals and spurs
Both visible and hidden
A misalliance?

Accolade

ACCOLADE

-noun
1. An award, honour, or an expression of praise.
2. A touch on someone's shoulders with the flat blade of a sword in the ceremony of conferring knighthood. Earlier an embrace was used instead.





















The very first days
Basking in the sun's accolade
Working lunch tasting so much better for it.

Discalced

DISCALCED

-adj.
Without shoes.























Amor
Discalced
And timid
Frigid feet
Has forgotten
His bow.

Hobbledehoy

HOBBLEDEHOY

–noun
an awkward, ungainly youth.























Narcissus
Hobbledehoy
Even in death
Orbits fixed
Lost to life's
Empty mirror

Smidgen

SMIDGEN

–noun
a very small amount























Only a smidgen of stuffing
Makes the most perfect ravioli

Bailiwick

BAILIWICK

-noun
A person's area of expertise or interest.























Sleep as bailiwick
She reigns, unequalled, snoring,
Mistress of pillows.

Stele

STELE

-noun
1. An upright stone or pillar, having an inscription or a sculptured surface, serving as a monument. Also called stela.
2. The central core of the stem or root of a vascular plant.






















On such stele,
A man called Jesus
Is said to have been flogged
Many – many - years ago.

(Currently in the Basilica of Santa Prassede - Rome)

Eschew

ESCHEW

-trans. verb
1. To shun; to avoid (as something wrong or distasteful).



You can eschew work
And white chocolate
Keep in the shades
And forsake politics
Yet we all die still
Boredom kills us too.

Lapidary

LAPIDARY

-adj.
1. Relating to precious stones or cutting and polishing them.
2. Having elegance, precision, or refinement suggestive of gem cutting.

-noun
1. One who cuts, polishes, or deals in precious stones.
2. The art of cutting and polishing gems.






















Lapidary walls
Shining in the dew of time
Mirrors from the past.

Ambit

AMBIT

–noun
1. circumference; circuit.
2. boundary; limit.
3. a sphere of operation or influence; range; scope






















In
The
Ambit
Of your arms
I foment a storm
Devotion whipped to frenzy.

Eudemonia

EUDEMONIA

–noun
1. happiness; well-being.
2. Aristotelianism . happiness as the result of an active life governed by reason.
Also, eudaemonia.






















Simple eudemonia
Devoid of demons and lust
Balmy air lost in blooms.

Fling

FLING

verb (used with object)
1. to throw, cast, or hurl with force or violence.
2. to move (oneself) violently with impatience, contempt, or the like.
3. to put suddenly or violently.
4. to project or speak sharply, curtly, or forcefully.
5. to involve (oneself) vigorously in an undertaking.
6. to move, do, or say (something) quickly.
7. to send suddenly and rapidly.
8. to throw aside or off.
9. to throw to the ground, as in wrestling or horseback riding.
–verb (used without object)
10. to move with haste or violence; rush; dash.
11. to fly into violent and irregular motions, as a horse; throw the body about, as a person.
12. to speak harshly or abusively (usually followed by out .
–noun
13. an act of flinging.
14. a short period of unrestrained pursuit of one's wishes or desires.
15. an attempt at something.
16. a critical or contemptuous remark; gibe.
17. Also called Highland fling. a lively Scottish dance characterized by flinging movements of the arms and legs.



Just a fling with wind
Whipping clouds to a pink froth
Heavenly pastry

Pleonasm

PLEONASM

-noun
The use of more words than those necessary to express an idea; redundancy.























Lazy cat
Easy pleonasm
Basic truth.

Clad

CLAD

–verb (used with object)
to bond a metal to (another metal), especially to provide with a protective coat.

–verb
1. a simple past tense and past participle of clothe.
–adj.
2. dressed
3. covered



Clad in armour
More than one way
Clad in red too
so the blood doesn't show.

Dichotomy

DICHOTOMY

–noun
1. division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or pairs.
2. division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups.
3. Botany . a mode of branching by constant forking, as in some stems, in veins of leaves, etc.
4. Astronomy . the phase of the moon or of an inferior planet when half of its disk is visible.





















Mankind suffers from dichotomy
So much battle between the two official sexes
That a few alternatives have arisen, ready to conquer.

Triskaidekaphobia

TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA

-noun
Fear of the number 13.



I wonder if they did it on purpose
Making sure that triskaidekaphobia
Would contain more than just thirteen letters.

Paronomasia

PARONOMASIA

–noun Rhetoric .
1. the use of a word in different senses or the use of words similar in sound to achieve a specific effect, as humour or a dual meaning; punning.
2. a pun.



How do I relish paronomasia
And other such rhetoric delights
Hunting games.

Topiary

TOPIARY

–adj.
1. (of a plant) clipped or trimmed into fantastic shapes.
2. of or pertaining to such trimming.
–noun
3. topiary work; the topiary art.
4. a garden containing such work.























For the sake of elegance
He was given a topiary education
Not one of a gardener, mind
Just his schooling grew so baroque
He could never make a living
To support himself.

Procerity

PROCERITY

-noun
Height of stature; tallness.






















Green procerities
Peek out of terracotta
Promises of lunch.

Cynic

CYNIC

-noun
1. One who believes people are motivated by self-interest only.
2. A person with a negative outlook, one disposed to find fault.



A born cynic
She looks down her pink nose
Upon our imperfections
Willing enough to overlook them
When convenient
For her.

Crimp

CRIMP

–verb (used with object)
1. to press into small regular folds; make wavy.
2. to curl (hair), especially with the use of a curling iron.
3. to press or draw together, as the ends of something.
4. to check, restrain, or inhibit; hinder.
5. Cookery .
a. to pinch and press down the edges of (a pie crust), especially to seal together the top and bottom layers of pastry.
b. to gash (the flesh of a live fish or of one just killed) with a knife to make more crisp when cooked.
6. to produce a corrugated surface in; corrugate, as sheet metal, cardboard, etc.
7. to bend (leather) into shape.
8. Metalworking .
a. to bend the edges of (skelp) before forming into a tube.
b. to fold the edges of (sheet metal) to make a lock seam.
–noun
9. the act of crimping.
10.a crimped condition or form.
11.Usually, crimps. waves or curls, especially in hair that has been crimped or that displays a crimped pattern.
12.the waviness of wool fibres as naturally grown on sheep.
13.the waviness imparted to natural or synthetic fibres by weaving, knitting, plaiting, or other processes.
14.a crease formed in sheet metal or plate metal to make the material less flexible or for fastening purposes.


–noun
1. a person engaged in enlisting sailors, soldiers, etc., by persuasion, swindling, or coercion.
–verb (used with object)
2. to enlist (sailors, soldiers, etc.) by such means.























Crimped metal
Turned into irrational shapes
Pipes for the devil’s organ?

Acta

ACTA

–plural noun ( often initial capital letter )
official records, as of acts, deeds, proceedings, transactions, or the like.






















I look upon flowers
As spring numerous acta
Applicable and
In full force.

Flense

FLENSE

–verb (used with object)
1. to strip the blubber or the skin from (a whale, seal, etc.).
2. to strip off (blubber or skin).























Your rejection
Flensed me
Leaving me raw
Without armour
To face the world

Pier

PIER

–noun
1. a structure built on posts extending from land out over water, used as a landing place for ships, an entertainment area, a strolling place, etc.; jetty.
2. (in a bridge or the like) a support for the ends of adjacent spans.
3. a square pillar.
4. a portion of wall between doors, windows, etc.
5. a pillar or post on which a gate or door is hung.
6. a support of masonry, steel, or the like for sustaining vertical pressure.
7. a long passageway or corridor that extends from a central area of a building, especially one at an airport that leads to boarding gates.




I moored into your arms
As if to a pier shaken by storm
Unable to avoid the wreck still
Tearing at your heart in the process
Lost birds losing height
In the eye of the tempest.

Notion

NOTION

–noun
1. a general understanding; vague or imperfect conception or idea of something.
2. an opinion, view, or belief.
3. conception or idea.
4. a fanciful or foolish idea; whim.
5. an ingenious article, device, or contrivance; knick-knack.
6. notions, small articles, as buttons, thread, ribbon, and other personal items, especially such items displayed together for sale, as in a department store.



Vague notions collide in my hours of slumber
Cooking monsters, recipes or stories
Sometimes belonging to all three categories.

Truncate

TRUNCATE

–verb (used with object)
1. to shorten by cutting off a part; cut short.
2. Mathematics, Computers . to shorten (a number) by dropping a digit or digits: The numbers 1.4142 and 1.4987 can both be truncated to 1.4.
–adj.
3. truncated.
4. Biology .
a. square or broad at the end, as if cut off transversely.
b. lacking the apex, as certain spiral shells.






















Truncate waffles
As if eaten by moths
Tasty butterfly wings

Rheum

RHEUM

-noun
1. a watery discharge from the mucous membranes especially of the eyes or nose
2. a condition (as a cold) marked by such discharge





















Pollen induced rheum
She begs for a clean-up
Squinting in the light

Topical

TOPICAL

–adj.
1. pertaining to or dealing with matters of current or local interest.
2. pertaining to the subject of a discourse, composition, or the like.
3. of a place; local.
4. Medicine/Medical . of, pertaining to, or applied externally to a particular part of the body; local






















A topical poppet
Showed up on my desk
As fury developed on my screen:
Here's to optimism.