Serif

SERIF

–noun
Printing . a smaller line used to finish off a main stroke of a letter, as at the top and bottom of M.
Also, especially British ceriph.

























The serif
Plays the caliph
By inserting its mark upon all.

Accord

ACCORD

-verb (used without object)
1. to be in agreement or harmony; agree.
-verb (used with object)
2. to make agree or correspond; adapt.
3. to grant; bestow: to accord due praise.
4. Archaic . to settle; reconcile.
-noun
5. proper relationship or proportion; harmony.
6. a harmonious union of sounds, colours, etc.
7. consent or concurrence of opinions or wills; agreement.
8. an international agreement; settlement of questions outstanding among nations.



Our
Sky
Cares not
For accord
Forced harmonies
Showing peace to adversity.

Stem

STEM

–noun
1. the ascending axis of a plant, whether above or below ground, which ordinarily grows in an opposite direction to the root or descending axis.
2. the stalk that supports a leaf, flower, or fruit.
3. the main body of that portion of a tree, shrub, or other plant which is above ground; trunk; stalk.
4. a cut flower.
5. a petiole; peduncle; pedicel.
6. a stalk of bananas.
7. something resembling or suggesting a leaf or flower stalk.
8. a long, slender part: the stem of a tobacco pipe.
9. the slender, vertical part of a goblet, wineglass, etc., between the bowl and the base.
10.Informal. a drinking glass having a stem.
11.the handle of a spoon.
12.a projection from the rim of a watch, having on its end a knob for winding the watch.
13.the circular rod in some locks about which the key fits and rotates.
14.the rod or spindle by which a valve is operated from outside.
15.the stock or line of descent of a family; ancestry or pedigree.
16.Grammar. the underlying form, often consisting of a root plus an affix, to which the inflectional endings of a word are added, as tend-, the stem in Latin tendere “to stretch,” the root of which is ten-.
17.Music. the vertical line forming part of a note.
18.the main or relatively thick stroke of a letter in printing.
–verb (used with object)
19.to remove the stem from (a leaf, fruit, etc.)
–verb (used without object)
20.to arise or originate

–verb (used with object)
1. to stop, check, or restrain.
2. to dam up; stop the flow of (a stream, river, or the like).
3. to tamp, plug, or make tight, as a hole or joint.
4. Skiing. to manoeuvre (a ski or skis) in executing a stem.
5. to stanch (bleeding).
–verb (used without object)
6. Skiing. to execute a stem.
–noun
7. Skiing. the act or instance of a skier pushing the heel of one or both skis outward so that the heels are far apart, as in making certain turns or slowing down.

–verb (used with object)
1. to make headway against (a tide, current, gale, etc.).
2. to make progress against (any opposition).

–noun
Nautical.
1. (at the bow of a vessel) an upright into which the side timbers or plates are jointed.
2. the forward part of a vessel (often opposed to stern).

–verb (used with object)
to arrange the loading of (a merchant vessel) within a specified time.




I had to stem my enthusiasm in calligraphy
And thin out the stems from my prose
Now I tiptoe around fragile stalks, tender words
Ungrounded, all tendrils reaching at the sky.

Corpulent

CORPULENT

–adj.
large or bulky of body; portly; stout; fat.























I thought the cats would have loved
To have him home to play with
But he was too corpulent
And possibly likes kitties for snacks.

Eloign

ELOIGN

–verb (used with object)
to remove to a distance, especially to take beyond the jurisdiction of a law court.























Eloign thee, my mind,
My long cherished sanity
In this mad world
You are but a hindrance
A relic of past wisdom.

Pileus

PILEUS

-noun
1. Mycology . the horizontal portion of a mushroom, bearing gills, tubes, etc., on its underside; a cap.
2. Zoology .
a. the umbrella or bell of a jellyfish.
b. Also called pileum; the top of the head of a bird, from the base of the bill to the nape.
3. Also called cap cloud, scarf cloud. Meteorology . a small, thin cloud just above or attached to a growing cumulus cloud























Tasty pileus
A promise of sumptuous pasta
Summer boon.

Hanker

HANKER
–verb (used without object)
to have a restless or incessant longing (often followed by "after", "for", or an infinitive).



She hankers for food
A little more crunchies
A few yeast pills at least
Her months on the streets
Having conditioned her
To expect the worst
A curtail of goods.

Relish

RELISH

–noun
1. liking or enjoyment of the taste of something.
2. pleasurable appreciation of anything; liking.
3. Cookery .
a. something savoury or appetizing added to a meal, as pickles or olives.
b. a sweet pickle made of various vegetables, usually chopped or minced.
c. an appetizer or hors d'oeuvre.
4. a pleasing or appetizing flavour.
5. a pleasing or enjoyable quality.
6. a taste or flavour.
7. a smack, trace, or touch of something.
–verb (used with object)
8. to take pleasure in; like; enjoy.
9. to make pleasing to the taste.
10. to like the taste of.
–verb (used without object)
11. to have taste or flavour.
12. to be agreeable.























Relish mirrors, I do not
But the trees love them enough
They expand the space they’re given
To me they are just a prison.

Glossolalia

GLOSSOLALIA

–noun
incomprehensible speech in an imaginary language, sometimes occurring in a trance state, an episode of religious ecstasy, or schizophrenia.























Natures speaks to me
Images and signs everywhere
A glossolalia for me to decipher.
That cloud:
It wants me to eat cake

Snarl

SNARL

–verb (used without object)
1. to growl threateningly or viciously, especially with a raised upper lip to bare the teeth, as a dog.
2. to speak in a surly or threatening manner suggestive of a dog's snarl.
–verb (used with object)
3. to say by snarling
–noun
4. the act of snarling.
5. a snarling sound or utterance.


–noun
1. a tangle, as of thread, hair, or wire.
2. a complicated or confused condition or matter.
3. a knot in wood.
–verb (used with object)
4. to bring into a tangled condition, as thread or hair.
5. to render complicated or confused.
6. to raise or emboss, as parts of a thin metal vessel, by hammering on a tool (snarling iron) held against the inner surface of the vessel.
–verb (used without object)
7. to become tangled; get into a tangle.























Sorting out snarls
Is snarl inducing

Voulu

VOULU

-adj.
Contrived; forced.























I am innocent,
Swears the lizard,
Natures compels me
And my maw does what it must
Voulu demise a trifle

The dragon fly isn’t impressed.

Thigmotropism

THIGMOTROPISM

–noun
Biology . oriented growth of an organism in response to mechanical contact, as a plant tendril coiling around a string support.



Fragile grips
Thigmotropism at work
Glad for support.

Tat

TAT

—verb
to make (something) by tatting (the act or process of making a kind of knotted lace of cotton or linen thread with a shuttle).

—noun
1. tatty articles or a tatty condition
2. tasteless articles
3. a tangled mass























Mock ribbons
A tat of thin omelets
Passing for tripe

Melismatic

MELISMATIC

–noun
Music . an ornamental phrase of several notes sung to one syllable of text, as in plainsong or blues singing.























She launches
Into melismatic pleas
At the slightest hint of
Food

Tain

TAIN

–noun
1. a thin tin plate.
2. tin foil for the backs of mirrors.























Some days
I feel covered in tain
Or lead
Toxic and/thus unseen
Denied
Your look pierces through me
Right through
While searching for yourself
A void

Helter skelter

HELTER SKELTER

–adv.
1. in headlong and disorderly haste.
2. in a haphazard manner; without regard for order.
–adj.
3. carelessly hurried; confused.
4. disorderly; haphazard
–noun
5. tumultuous disorder; confusion.























We live
Helter skelter
Through vague attempts
At order
Futile.

Origami

ORIGAMI

–noun
1. the traditional Japanese art or technique of folding paper into a variety of decorative or representational forms, as of animals or flowers.
2. an object made by origami.























This universe
An origami of planes
Fading in a closet


Background image from the Chandra satellite appears courtesy of The Smithsonion Institute

Mar

MAR

–verb (used with object)
1. to damage or spoil to a certain extent; render less perfect, attractive, useful, etc.; impair or spoil.
2. to disfigure, deface, or scar























Marred fountains
Eyes gouged and painted
Water still flows

Wicker

WICKER

–noun
1. a slender, pliant twig; osier; withe.
2. plaited or woven twigs or osiers as the material of baskets, chairs, etc.; wickerwork.
3. something made of wickerwork, as a basket.
–adj.
4. consisting or made of wicker.
5. covered with wicker



Inherent wicker
Embedded deep inside the palm
Nature’s structural support.

Barley

BARLEY

–noun
1. a widely distributed cereal plant belonging to the genus Hordeum, of the grass family, having awned flowers that grow in tightly bunched spikes, with three small additional spikes at each node.
2. the grain of this plant, used as food and in making beer, ale, and whiskey.

–noun
Scot. and North England . a truce or quarter, especially in children's games; parley.























Let's take a barley
From life's impetus.
Toasted barley tea.

Lunate

LUNATE

–adj.
1. crescent-shaped.
.–noun
2. Anatomy . the second bone from the thumb side of the proximal row of bones of the carpus.
3. a crescent-shaped, microlithic artifact mounted in a haft to form a composite tool, mostly Mesolithic in origin.























You came at me with a set of lunate blades
And sharp words to match.
What won’t you do for food!

Ponder

PONDER

–verb (used without object)
1. to consider something deeply and thoroughly; meditate (often followed by "over" or "upon").
–verb (used with object)
2. to weigh carefully in the mind; consider thoughtfully























Sight lost in water
Reality faded to black
She ponders the meaning of life
The unbearable crush
And is grateful for wings

Snood

SNOOD

–noun
1. the distinctive headband formerly worn by young unmarried women in Scotland and northern England.
2. a headband for the hair.
3. a netlike hat or part of a hat or fabric that holds or covers the back of a woman's hair.
4. the pendulous skin over the beak of a turkey.
–verb (used with object)
5. to bind or confine (the hair) with a snood.




A snood for a noose
Skulls masquerading as flowers.
I relish the double-takes

Exertion

EXERTION

–noun
1. vigorous action or effort.
2. an effort.
3. exercise, as of power or faculties.
4. an instance of this.























Carrying the papal stem
Is quite an exertion
Why, the poor fellow is wasted
To the bones!

Carom

CAROM

–noun
1. Billiards, Pool . a shot in which the cue ball hits two balls in succession.
2. any strike and rebound, as a ball striking a wall and glancing off.
–verb (used without object)
3. to make a carom.
4. to strike and rebound.























Hail music
Tapping away
Caroming off stones
Chanting of summer storms
Impromptu granite
Slush in my cocktail
Unexpected
Fluke weather
Cool heat.

Context

CONTEXT

–noun
1. the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect.
2. the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc.
3. Mycology . the fleshy fibrous body of the pileus in mushrooms.























It’s all about context,
You said
Before drifting away.
I doubt
That you ever loved me

Costard

COSTARD

–noun
1. a large English variety of apple.
2. Archaic . the head.























Three red costards
Small and juicy
Three red costards
Small and pithy
I can’t wait for autumn

Adduce

ADDUCE

–verb (used with object)
to bring forward in argument or as evidence; cite as pertinent or conclusive



“Meow” was adduced
As definite statement
For fanfare waking-up time
Or food offering expectancy
Short and to the point.

Avocation

AVOCATION

-noun
1. One's regular job or occupation.
2. An activity taken up besides the regular work; a hobby.



Free writing, prose long and short
Or poetry of some sort.
Demanding avocation:
From real world, vacation.

Douse

DOUSE

–verb (used with object)
1. to plunge into water or the like; drench.
2. to splash or throw water or other liquid on.
3. to extinguish.
–verb (used without object)
6. to plunge or be plunged into a liquid.

British Dialect
—verb
1. nautical. to lower (sail) quickly
2. archaic. to strike or beat
—noun
3. archaic. a blow

























Dripping gloom
Doused in darkness
They glitter faintly still
Dreams.

Ravel

RAVEL

-verb trans. intr.
1. To fray or to become dis-joined; to untangle.
2. To entangle or to become tangled.



A bolero
Meanings frayed and ravelling
Meeting opposites in a kiss
Breeding confusion
Succulent quid pro quo

Series

SERIES

–noun
1. a group or a number of related or similar things, events, etc., arranged or occurring in temporal, spatial, or other order or succession; sequence.
2. a number of games, contests, or sporting events, with the same participants, considered as a unit.
3. a set, as of coins or stamps.
4. a set of successive volumes or issues of a periodical published in like form with similarity of subject or purpose.
5. Radio and Television .
a. a daily or weekly program with the same cast and format and a continuing story, as a soap opera, situation comedy, or drama.
b. a number of related programs having the same theme, cast, or format.
6. Mathematics .
a. a sequence of terms combined by addition
b. infinite series.
7. Rhetoric . a succession of coordinate sentence elements.
8. Geology . a division of stratified rocks that is of next higher rank to a stage and next lower rank to a system, comprising deposits formed during part of a geological epoch.
9. Electricity . an end-to-end arrangement of the components, as resistors, in a circuit so that the same current flows through each component.
10.Chemistry . a group of related chemical elements arranged in order of increasing atomic number
–adj.
11.Electricity . consisting of or having component parts connected in series























Series of ideas:
Pillars to a story,
Or massive grave,
Toxic junk yard,
A start for the future,
Wings for dreams.

Abut

ABUT

–verb (used without object)
1. to be adjacent; touch or join at the edge or border (often followed by "on", "upon", or "against")
–verb (used with object)
2. to be adjacent to; border on; end at.
3. to support by an abutment.




Regardless of impressions
The sky never quite abuts the sea
They are all and the same.

Fool

FOOL

–noun
1. a silly or stupid person; a person who lacks judgment or sense.
2. a professional jester, formerly kept by a person of royal or noble rank for amusement.
3. a person who has been tricked or deceived into appearing or acting silly or stupid.
4. an ardent enthusiast who cannot resist an opportunity to indulge an enthusiasm (usually preceded by a present participle).
5. a weak-minded or idiotic person.
–verb (used without object)
7. to act like a fool; joke; play.
8. to jest; pretend; make believe

–noun
British Cookery .
1. a dish made of fruit, scalded or stewed, crushed and mixed with cream or the like























A fool of a fruit
Lured into this trap.
A fool
To us.

Micawber

MICAWBER

-noun
An eternal optimist.























Always the micawber,
She feels entitled to cuddles
And endless supplies of food.
The fool.

Barmecidal

BARMECIDAL

-adj.
Giving only an illusion of something; unreal.



Barmecidal gardens
A lost topiary art

Etiolate

ETIOLATE

-verb trans.
1. To make pale by preventing exposure to sunlight.
2. To make weak by stunting the growth of.
-verb intr.
3. To become pale, weak, or stunted.



Etiolated by age
Angels still dance about
But their pin has lost its head.

Devoid

DEVOID

–adj.
1. not possessing, untouched by, void, or destitute (usually followed by "of").
–verb (used with object)
2. to deplete or strip of some quality or substance



Time touched sphinx
Devoid of head piece
Lost to memory

Onus

ONUS

-noun
1. a difficult or disagreeable obligation, task, burden, etc.
2. burden of proof.
3. blame or responsibility.























Serious people will place
The onus of a pink sky on photons,
Summer delight or ice cream.

Bole

BOLE

–noun
Botany .
1. the stem or trunk of a tree.

–noun
1. any of a variety of soft, unctuous clays of various colours, used as pigments.
2. a medium red-brown colour made from such clay.


















Lone metal bole
Unable to sprout leaves
Bole coloured world

Addle

ADDLE

–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1. to make or become confused.
2. to make or become rotten, as eggs.
–adj.
3. mentally confused; muddled.
4. rotten























Contrary to the obvious
Addled eggs are not scrambled.
Or mad.

Hinky

HINKY

-adj.
nervous or suspicious; acting suspiciously




Hinky stray
Stays well away
But still within my camera's reach.

Thresh

THRESH

— verb
(often followed by “about”)
1. to beat or rub stalks of ripe corn or a similar crop either with a hand implement or a machine to separate the grain from the husks and straw
2. (trans.) to beat or strike
3. to toss and turn; thrash
— noun
4. the act of threshing























Life
Threshing youth of its awkward husk
Supporting straws and flaws
Sometimes crushing grains
In the process.

Bibliocast

BIBLIOCAST

–noun
a person who mutilates or destroys books.
























Portrait of the artist as a bibliocast:
Her sculpture far better than the destroyed tome.


Sculpture by Françoise Chamagne

Primordial

PRIMORDIAL

–adj.
1. constituting a beginning; giving origin to something derived or developed; original; elementary,
2. Embryology . first formed.
3. pertaining to or existing at or from the very beginning



Primordial fears
Keep us anchored to life
And rational acts
But our dreams stray.

Slant

SLANT

–verb (used without object)
1. to veer or angle away from a given level or line, especially from a horizontal; slope.
2. to have or be influenced by a subjective point of view, bias, personal feeling or inclination, etc. (usually followed by "towards").
–verb (used with object)
3. to cause to slope.
4. to distort (information) by rendering it unfaithfully or incompletely, especially in order to reflect a particular viewpoint.
5. to write, edit, or publish for the interest or amusement of a specific group of readers.
–noun
6. slanting or oblique direction; slope.
7. a slanting line, surface, etc.
8. virgule.
9. a mental leaning, bias, or distortion.
10.viewpoint; opinion; attitude.
11.Informal . a glance or look.
12.Also called angle. Journalism . the particular mood or vein in which something is written, edited, or published.
13.Football .
a. an offensive play in which the ball-carrier runs toward the line of scrimmage at an angle.
b. Also called slant-in. a pass pattern in which a receiver cuts diagonally across the middle of the field.
–adj.
14. sloping; oblique



Slanted sun light
Discovering veins and fractures
Turning frail colours

Floor

FLOOR

–noun
1. that part of a room, hallway, or the like, that forms its lower enclosing surface and upon which one walks.
2. a continuous, supporting surface extending horizontally throughout a building, having a number of rooms, apartments, or the like, and constituting one level or stage in the structure; story.
3. a level, supporting surface in any structure
4. one of two or more layers of material composing a floor.
5. a platform or prepared level area for a particular use.
6. the bottom of any more or less hollow place.
7. a more or less flat extent of surface.
8. the part of a legislative chamber, meeting room, etc., where the members sit, and from which they speak.
9. the right of one member to speak from such a place in preference to other members.
10. the area of a floor, as in a factory or retail store, where items are actually made or sold, as opposed to offices, supply areas, etc.
11. the main part of a stock or commodity exchange or the like, as distinguished from the galleries, platform, etc.
12. the bottom, base, or minimum charged, demanded, or paid.
13. Mining . an underlying stratum, as of ore, usually flat.
14. Nautical .
a. the bottom of a hull.
b. any of a number of deep, transverse framing members at the bottom of a steel or iron hull, generally interrupted by and joined to any vertical keel or keelsons.
c. the lowermost member of a frame in a wooden vessel.
–verb (used with object)
15. to cover or furnish with a floor.
16. to bring down to the floor or ground; knock down: He floored his opponent with one blow.
17. to overwhelm; defeat.



On the ocean floor
Skate the languid sirens
Polishing up the algae
With a swipe of their tail

Maté

MATÉ

–noun
1. a tea-like South American beverage made from the dried leaves of an evergreen tree.
2. a South American tree, Ilex paraguariensis, that is the source of this beverage.
3. the dried leaves of this tree.



An acquired taste,
Maté is full of vitamines
And minerals:
It's good for you
And tastes like it too.

Fatigue

FATIGUE

–noun
1. weariness from bodily or mental exertion.
2. a cause of weariness; slow ordeal; exertion.
3. Physiology . temporary diminution of the irritability or functioning of organs, tissues, or cells after excessive exertion or stimulation.
4. Civil Engineering . the weakening or breakdown of material subjected to stress, especially a repeated series of stresses.
5. Also called fatigue duty. Military .
a. labour of a generally non-military kind done by soldiers, such as cleaning up an area, digging drainage ditches, or raking leaves.
b. the state of being engaged in such labour.
6. fatigues, Military . fatigue clothes.
–adj.
7. of or pertaining to fatigues or any clothing made to resemble them.
–verb (used with object)
8. to weary with bodily or mental exertion; exhaust the strength of.
9. Civil Engineering . to subject (a material) to fatigue.
–verb (used without object)
10.to become fatigued.
11.Civil Engineering . (of a material) to undergo fatigue.



Let the sick, the needy,
Find harbour for their fatigue
Tender morsels and cuddles
For the weary.

Lancinate

LANCINATE

-verb trans.
To pierce or tear.























Some bees
Can lancinate your heart
Just as well as your skin