Axiomatic

AXIOMATIC

-adj.
1 taken for granted : self-evident
2 based on or involving an axiom or system of axioms























Axiomatic salad
Dictated by heat
And summer bounty

Resent

RESENT

–verb (used with object)
to feel or show displeasure or indignation at (a person, act, remark, etc.) from a sense of injury or insult.




I resent your snacking
On something I can't steal.

Knoll

KNOLL

-noun
a small, rounded hill or eminence; hillock.
–verb (used with object)
1. to ring or toll a bell for; announce by tolling.
2. to ring or toll (a bell).
–verb (used without object)
3. to sound, as a bell; ring.
4. to sound a knell.
–noun
5. a stroke of a bell in ringing or tolling.


























Evening knoll
Rounded like a bell
Sounding teat.

Highfalutin

HIGHFALUTIN

-adj.
Pompous; bombastic.

























Teeth and claws
Wings too
Broken
Away
By
Time
Highfalutin beast
No more

Ladder

LADDER

–noun
1. a structure of wood, metal, or rope, commonly consisting of two sidepieces between which a series of bars or rungs are set at suitable distances, forming a means of climbing up or down.
2. something resembling this.
3. a means of rising, as to eminence.
4. a graded series of stages or levels in status; a hierarchical order of position or rank.
5. Nautical . companionway within the hull of the vessel.
6. Chiefly British . a run in a stocking.
–verb (used with object)
7. to climb or mount by means of a ladder.
8. to furnish with a ladder.
9. Chiefly British . to cause a run in (a stocking).
–verb (used without object)
10. Chiefly British . to get a run, as in a stocking.
11. to gain in popularity or importance.

























He wanted to climb to heaven
Took a ladder and went his way
Got stranded into the orchard
For fruits were sweet and tempting
Unnoticed hours slipped away.

Much later, we found his tools,
Spat pits and a handful of feathers
But no sign of him anywhere
He wanted to climb to heaven
But maybe he was just taken away.

Widget

WIDGET

—noun
1. informal any small mechanism or device, the name of which is unknown or temporarily forgotten
2. a small device in a beer can which, when the can is opened, releases nitrogen gas into the beer, giving it a head
3. a small computer program that can be installed on and executed from the desktop of a personal computer



This computer popped a widget
And went "Fizzzz!"
We are sorry to report
It totally lost its head



This has been generated by a handsome widget at Atom Smasher

Cosmogony

COSMOGONY

–noun
a theory or story of the origin and development of the universe, the solar system, or the earth-moon system.



In a summer night moment
Glimpses of cosmogony make you shiver
Star dust underneath your toes
In between your clenched teeth

Expectation

EXPECTATION

-noun
1. the act or state of expecting or the state of being expected
2. ( usually plural ) something looked forward to, whether feared or hoped for.
3. an attitude of expectancy or hope; anticipation.
4. statistics
a. the numerical probability that an event will occur
b. another term for expected value



I call them expectation
Jewels from the garden
Precious and bountiful
For a too short month

Herl

HERL

-noun
1. a strand of hair.
2. The fibrous shaft or barb of a feather (especially that of the ostrich or peacock) used to make artificial flies for angling.
3. An artificial fly made with this barb






















Herl provider
Seminating fibers all over the lawn
To catch the fish
Laid there by the night
Hidden in dew drops

Spall

SPALL

—noun
1. a splinter or chip of ore, rock, or stone
—verb
2. to split or cause to split into such fragments



I admit it
I wanted your heart to spall
The hurt to turn your eyes blue
Blood on your lips

I had no thoughts
Of basic ballistic rules
The shards cut right through me
As I counted points.

Tumbril

TUMBRIL

–noun (also: tumbrel)
1. one of the carts used during the French Revolution to convey victims to the guillotine.
2. a farmer's cart, especially one for hauling manure, that can be tilted to discharge its load.
3. Obsolete . a two-wheeled covered cart accompanying artillery for carrying tools, ammunition, etc.























A tumbril of leaves
To shift the seasons
And dried up memories

Trope

TROPE

–noun
1. Rhetoric .
a. any literary or rhetorical device, as metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony, that consists in the use of words in other than their literal sense.
b. an instance of this. Compare figure of speech.
2. a phrase, sentence, or verse formerly interpolated in a liturgical text to amplify or embellish.
3. (in the philosophy of Santayana) the principle of organization according to which matter moves to form an object during the various stages of its existence.























Support our tropes!

Doxology

DOXOLOGY

-noun
1. a hymn or form of words containing an ascription of praise to god.
2. the Doxology, the metrical formula beginning “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”






















I found doxology too
In the stone carved torments
The warnings and flames
Promises of the unspeakable
For refusing a holy embrace.

Liquescent

LIQUESCENT

–adj.
1. becoming liquid; melting.
2. tending toward a liquid state.






















Liquescent glass
Condemned by gravity and time
To drop away

Flummery

FLUMMERY

–noun
1. oatmeal or flour boiled with water until thick.
2. fruit custard or blancmange usually thickened with cornstarch.
3. any of various dishes made of flour, milk, eggs, sugar, etc.
4. complete nonsense; foolish humbug.























Unusual flummery
Celebrating spring glory.

Tyro

TYRO

-noun
One who is beginning to learn something. Also: tiro




Tyro tyrant
Holding human hearts
In her paws

Shirty

SHIRTY

-adj.
Bad-tempered, irritable.



Shirty
Heroes
As guardians
To
Forbidden
Doors

Usufruct

USUFRUCT

-noun
The right to use and enjoy another's property without destroying it.



Marriage came with usufruct,
Not possession
You had no right to break my heart.

Litmus

LITMUS

—noun
a soluble powder obtained from certain lichens. It turns red under acid conditions and blue under basic conditions and is used as an indicator























Litmus coloured life
Rusting under a blue sky

Bumf

BUMF

-noun
Unwanted or uninteresting printed matter such as governmental forms, legal documents, junk mail, promotional pamphlets, etc.



The mailbox was stacked with bumf
So tight that no real mail could sneak in
Wasting trees.

Spavined

SPAVINED

–adj.
1. suffering from or affected with spavin.
2. being of or marked by a decrepit or broken-down condition



Spavined and leprous walls
Breathing out toxic fumes
Drink poison from your lips

Down

DOWN

–adv.
1. from higher to lower; in descending direction or order; toward, into, or in a lower position.
2. on or to the ground, floor, or bottom.
3. to or in a sitting or lying position.
4. to or in a position, area, or district considered lower, especially from a geographical or cartographic standpoint, as to the south, a business district, etc.
5. to or at a lower value or rate.
6. to a lesser pitch or volume.
7. in or to a calmer, less active, or less prominent state.
8. from an earlier to a later time.
9. from a greater to a lesser strength, amount, etc.
10.in an attitude of earnest application.
11.on paper or in a book.
12.in cash at the time of purchase; at once.
13.to the point of defeat, submission, inactivity, etc.
14.in or into a fixed or supine position.
15.to the source or actual position.
16.into a condition of ill health.
17.in or into a lower status or condition.
18.Nautical . toward the lee side, so as to turn a vessel to windward.
–preposition
19.in a descending or more remote direction or place on, over, or along.
–adj.
20.downward; going or directed downward.
21.being at a low position or on the ground, floor, or bottom.
22.toward the south, a business district, etc.
23.associated with or serving traffic, transportation, or the like, directed toward the south, a business district, etc.
24.downcast; depressed; dejected.
25.ailing, especially, sick and bedridden.
26.being the portion of the full price, as of an article bought on the installment plan, that is paid at the time of purchase or delivery.
27.Football . (of the ball) not in play.
28.behind an opponent or opponents in points, games, etc.
29.Baseball . out.
30.losing or having lost the amount indicated, especially at gambling.
31.having placed one's bet.
32.finished, done, considered, or taken care of.
33.out of order.
–noun
34.a downward movement; descent.
35.a turn for the worse; reverse.
36.Football .
a.one of a series of four plays during which a team must advance the ball at least 10 yards (9 meters) to keep possession of it.
b.the declaring of the ball as down or out of play, or the play immediately preceding this.
–verb (used with object)
37.to put, knock, or throw down; subdue.
38.to drink down, especially quickly or in one gulp.
39.Informal . to defeat in a game or contest.
40.to cause to fall from a height, especially by shooting.
–verb (used without object)
41.to go down; fall.
–interjection
42.(used as a command to a dog to stop attacking, to stop jumping on someone, to get off a couch or chair, etc.).
43.(used as a command or warning to duck, take cover, or the like)

–noun
1. the soft, first plumage of many young birds.
2. the soft under plumage of birds as distinct from the contour feathers.
3. the under plumage of some birds, as geese and ducks, used for filling in quilts, clothing, etc., chiefly for warmth.
4. a growth of soft, fine hair or the like.
5. Botany .
a.a fine, soft pubescence on plants and some fruits.
b.the light, feathery pappus or coma on seeds by which they are borne on the wind, as on the dandelion and thistle.
–adj.
6. filled with down

–noun
1. Often, downs. (used especially in southern England) open, rolling, upland country with fairly smooth slopes usually covered with grass.
2. (initial capital letter ) any sheep of several breeds, raised originally in the downs of southern England, as the Southdown, Suffolk, etc.
3. Archaic . a hill, especially a sand hill or dune.






















Satisfaction
Yolks running down
Soaking into bread

Sitzfleisch

SITZFLEISCH

-noun
1. The ability to sit through or tolerate something boring.
2. The ability to endure or persist in a task.























Cats have the gift
Of permanent sitzfleisch

Bootstrap

BOOTSTRAP

-verb trans.
To help oneself with one's own initiative and no outside help.
-noun
Unaided efforts.
-adj.
Reliant on one's own efforts



I claim I bootstrapped myself
Through a series of hobbies
I never said I was good at them.

Corybantic

CORYBANTIC

-adj.
Frenzied; agitated; unrestrained






















They dance in the froth
Corybantic mermaids.

Mooncalf

MOONCALF

–noun
1. Obsolete - a congenitally grossly deformed and mentally defective person.
2. a foolish person.
3. a person who spends time idly daydreaming.























I became a writer
To forget that I was a mooncalf
Perfect alibi.

Eave

EAVE

-noun
1. the lower border of a roof that overhangs the wall —usually used in plural
2. a projecting edge (as of a hill) —usually used in plural




Earthquakes:
Nature's uncanny way
With eaves dropping.

Rut

RUT

—noun
1. a groove or furrow in a soft road, caused by wheels
2. any deep mark, hole, or groove
3. a narrow or predictable way of life, set of attitudes, etc; dreary or undeviating routine (especially in the phrase "in a rut")
—verb
4. (trans.) to make a rut or ruts in

—noun
1. a recurrent period of sexual excitement and reproductive activity in certain male ruminants, such as the deer, that corresponds to the period of oestrus in females
2. another name for oestrus
—verb
3. (intr.) (of male ruminants) to be in a period of sexual excitement and activity




With its rutted horns,
The ram has the perfect excuse
For perennial rut.

Desultory

DESULTORY

-adj.
1. Marked by absence of a plan; disconnected; jumping from one thing to another.
2. Digressing from the main subject; random.




Foxed by market offers
Meals acquire a desultory quality
Haphazard fare
Brought together by fate
Rather than planning

Inveigle

INVEIGLE

–verb (used with object)
1. to entice, lure, or ensnare by flattery or artful talk or inducements (usually followed by "into")
2. to acquire, win, or obtain by beguiling talk or methods (usually followed by "from" or "away")






















His sweet dove-like purr
Is perfect for inveigling me
Into feeding him a few morsels

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