Barmecide

BARMECIDE

—adj. 
lavish or plentiful in imagination only; illusory; sham

Sailing along the locks of sleep
Heavy cargoes of barmecide dreams
Waiting to surge forward.

Anther

ANTHER

-noun 
 Botany . the pollen-bearing part of a stamen.

A bumblebee's day out hunting
Tracking anthers
Do they keep trophies?

Synecdoche

SYNECDOCHE

-noun
Rhetoric . a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special.

 You get upset

Accusing left and right

Bundling the world

In your angry synecdoche

Forgetting all measure

And ridicule

Dehiscence

DEHISCENCE
[dih-his-uhns]

-noun
1. Biology . the release of materials by the splitting open of an organ or tissue.
2. Botany . the natural bursting open of capsules, fruits, anthers, etc., for the discharge of their contents.
3. Surgery . the bursting open of a surgically closed wound.

 Waiting for rain
A whisper flying in
Clouds dehiscence

Pea

PEA

 —noun
1. the round, edible seed of a widely cultivated plant, Pisum sativum, of the legume family.
2. the plant itself.
3. the green, somewhat inflated pod of this plant.
4. any of various related or similar plants or their seed, as the chickpea.
5. something resembling a pea, especially in being small and round.  
-adj.
6. pertaining to, growing, containing, or cooked with peas.
7. small or small and round (usually used in combination).

Insignificant peas
We huddle together
For elusive warmth
Drying up slowly

Strew

STREW  

-verb (used with object)
1. to let fall in separate pieces or particles over a surface; scatter or sprinkle.
2. to cover or overspread (a surface, place, etc.) with something scattered or sprinkled.
3. to be scattered or sprinkled over (a surface).
4. to spread widely; disseminate

Distorted space
Cat strewn over a chair

Flue

FLUE
-noun
1. a passage or duct for smoke in a chimney.
2. any duct or passage for air, gas, or the like.
3. a tube, especially a large one, in a fire-tube boiler.
4. Music .
a. flue pipe.
b. Also called windway . a narrow slit in the upper end of an organ pipe through which the air current is directed  

 -noun
loose downy matter; fluff.

-noun
a type of fishing net.

You look at your life
Discarded hooks and flues
Discoloured hopes and whatnots
Wondering where it all went wrong
Still wanting to swim
Still wanting to fish
But
Your mermaid has lost interest
For the froth game

Whorl

WHORL

-noun
1. botany . a radial arrangement of three or more petals, stamens, leaves, etc, around a stem
2. zoology . a single turn in a spiral shell
3. one of the basic patterns of the human fingerprint, formed by several complete circular ridges one inside another
4. anything shaped like a coil

It’s so hard
Watching you
As you try to fight
Your way out of
A whorl of despair
Life and joy slipping
From your clenched hands
Your desperate smile.

Scale

SCALE

-noun
1. Zoology .
a. one of the thin, flat, horny plates forming the covering of certain animals, as snakes, lizards, and pangolins.
b. one of the hard, bony or dentinal plates, either flat or denticulate, forming the covering of certain other animals, as fishes.
2. any thin, plate-like piece, lamina, or flake that peels off from a surface, as from the skin.
3. Botany .
a. Also called bud scale. a rudimentary body, usually a specialized leaf and often covered with hair, wax, or resin, enclosing an immature leaf bud.
b. a thin, scarious or membranous part of a plant, as a bract of a catkin.
4. scale insect.
5. a coating or incrustation, as on the inside of a boiler, formed by the precipitation of salts from the water.
6. Often, scales. Metallurgy .
a. an oxide, especially an iron oxide, occurring in a scaly form on the surface of metal brought to a high temperature.
b. Also called mill scale. such scale formed on iron or steel during hot-rolling.
7. scales,
a. a cause of blindness or ignorance, as regarding the true nature of a person, situation, etc.
b. Bible . an unspecified affliction that caused Paul to become temporarily blind.
-verb (used with object)
8. to remove the scales or scale from.
9. to remove in scales or thin layers.
10.to cover with an incrustation or scale.
11.to skip, as a stone over water.
12.Dentistry . to remove (calculus) from the teeth with instruments.
-verb (used without object)
13.to come off in scales.
14.to shed scales.
15.to become coated with scale, as the inside of a boiler.

-noun
1. Often, scales. a balance or any of various other instruments or devices for weighing.
2. Also called scalepan. either of the pans or dishes of a balance.
3. Scales, Astronomy, Astrology . the constellation or sign of libra; Balance.
-verb (used with object)
4. to weigh in or as if in scales.
5. to have a weight of.

-noun
1. a succession or progression of steps or degrees; graduated series.
2. a series of marks laid down at determinate distances, as along a line, for purposes of measurement or computation.
3. a graduated line, as on a map, representing proportionate size.
4. a table of graduated rates, as of prices or wages.
5. a wage that conforms to such rates.
6. Also called union scale. a wage fixed by contract that is the minimum permitted to be paid to or accepted by a particular category of employed persons.
7. an instrument with graduated spaces, as for measuring.
8. the proportion that a representation of an object bears to the object itself.
9. the ratio of distances or sometimes of areas on a map to the corresponding values on the earth.
10.a certain relative or proportionate size or extent.
11.a standard of measurement or estimation; point of reference by which to gauge or rate.
12.Music . a succession of tones ascending or descending according to fixed intervals, especially such a series beginning on a particular note.
13.Education, Psychology . a graded series of tests or tasks for measuring intelligence, achievement, adjustment, etc.
14.Arithmetic . a system of numerical notation: the decimal scale.
15.anything by which one may ascend.
16.Obsolete .
a. a ladder.
b. a flight of stairs.
-verb (used with object)
17.to climb by or as if by a ladder; climb up or over.
18.to make according to scale.
19.to adjust in amount according to a fixed scale or proportion (often followed by "down" or "up").
20.to measure by or as if by a scale.
21.Lumbering .
a. to measure (logs).
b. to estimate the amount of (standing timber).
-verb (used without object)
22.to climb; ascend; mount.
23.to progress in a graduated series.




A forgotten tale
Snaking on sands
Most would see just scale
Ignore the desert tragedy
Printed so blatantly
In white on tan.

Avulse

AVULSE

-verb trans.
To pull off or tear away.

Avulsed years and pulp
Have scarred this wood
Yet it grows, still
Impervious to martyr.

Ascribe

ASCRIBE  

-verb (used with object)
1. to credit or assign, as to a cause or source; attribute; impute.
2. to attribute or think of as belonging, as a quality or characteristic.

Many miracles are ascribed to spring
BUT
We’ve forgotten
The one of its own recurrent existence

Quicken

QUICKEN  

-verb
1. to make or become faster; accelerate.
2. to impart to or receive vigour, enthusiasm, etc; stimulate or be stimulated.
3. to make or become alive; revive
4. a. (of an unborn fetus) to begin to show signs of life
    b. (of a pregnant woman) to reach the stage of pregnancy at which movements of the fetus can be felt

A little yeast
To quicken the dough
A bread golem is born

Settle

SETTLE

-verb (used with object)
1. to appoint, fix, or resolve definitely and conclusively; agree upon (as time, price, or conditions).
2. to place in a desired state or in order.
3. to pay, as a bill.
4. to close (an account) by payment.
5. to migrate to and organize (an area, territory, etc.); colonize.
6. to cause to take up residence.
7. to furnish (a place) with inhabitants or settlers.
8. to quiet, calm, or bring to rest (the nerves, stomach, etc.).
9. to stop from annoying or opposing.
10.to conclude or resolve.
11.to make stable; place in a permanent position or on a permanent basis.
12.to cause (a liquid) to become clear by depositing dregs.
13.to cause (dregs, sediment, etc.) to sink or be deposited.
14.to cause to sink down gradually; make firm or compact.
15.to dispose of finally; close up.
16.Law .
a. to secure (property, title, etc.) on or to a person by formal or legal process.
b. to terminate (legal proceedings) by mutual consent of the parties.
-verb (used without object)
17.to decide, arrange, or agree (often followed by "on" or "upon").
18.to arrange matters in dispute; come to an agreement.
19.to pay a bill; make a financial arrangement (often followed by "up").
20.to take up residence in a new country or place.
21.to come to rest, as from flight.
22.to gather, collect, or become fixed in a particular place, direction, etc.
23.to become calm or composed (often followed by "down")
24.to come to rest (often followed by "down").
25.to sink down gradually; subside.
26.to become clear by the sinking of suspended particles, as a liquid.
27.to sink to the bottom, as sediment.
28.to become firm or compact, as the ground.
29.(of a female animal) to become pregnant; conceive.

-noun
a seat, for two or more people, usually made of wood with a high back and arms, and sometimes having a storage space in the boxlike seat

























In the dusty street,
They settle for company
And the rickety shelter
Of an unlikely settle.

Daub

DAUB

-verb (used with object)
1. to cover or coat with soft, adhesive matter, as plaster or mud.
2. to spread (plaster, mud, etc.) on or over something.
3. to smear, soil, or defile.
4. to apply, as paint or colours, unskillfully.
-verb (used without object)
5. to daub something.
6. to paint unskillfully.
-noun
7 material, especially of an inferior kind, for daubing walls.
8. something daubed on.
9. an act of daubing.
10.a crude, inartistic painting.




Paris
Daubed over with street art
Where Love seems prominent
Love and protest
Poetry too.



Street art (not daub) by Fred le Chevalier

Slough

SLOUGH

—noun
1. a hollow filled with mud; bog
2. ( US ), ( Canadian )
a. (in the prairies) a large hole where water collects or the water in such a hole
b. (in the northwest) a sluggish side channel of a river
c. (on the Pacific coast) a marshy saltwater inlet
3. despair or degradation

—noun
1. any outer covering that is shed, such as the dead outer layer of the skin of a snake, the cellular debris in a wound, etc
2. bridge Also: sluff . a discarded card
—verb
3. ( often foll by "off") to shed (a skin, etc) or (of a skin, etc) to be shed
4. bridge Also: sluff to discard (a card or cards)



Set on accidental islands
Sheep often drown in sloughs
In the warmth of summer

Wattle

WATTLE

-noun
1. Often, wattles . a number of rods or stakes interwoven with twigs or tree branches for making fences, walls, etc.
2. wattles, a number of poles laid on a roof to hold thatch.
3. (in Australia) any of various acacias whose shoots and branches were used by the early colonists for wattles, now valued especially for their bark, which is used in tanning.
4. a fleshy lobe or appendage hanging down from the throat or chin of certain birds, as the domestic chicken or turkey.
-verb (used with object)
5. to bind, wall, fence, etc., with wattle or wattles.
6. to roof or frame with or as if with wattles.
7. to form into a basketwork; interweave; interlace.
8. to make or construct by interweaving twigs or branches:
-adj.
9. built or roofed with wattle or wattles.




When words refuse to wattle
Baulking at stories and making sense
Poetry comes along to lend a helping verse
Free from sense and construction

Tenet

TENET

—noun
a belief, opinion, or dogma




Tenets on the wall
Taunting passers by, passengers,
Urging them to move on
Rather than stop
And reflect.

Vestigial

VESTIGIAL

—adj.
1. of, relating to, or being a vestige
2. (of certain organs or parts of organisms) having attained a simple structure and reduced size and function during the evolution of the species.

























Flapping in the wind
Trying to find lost wings
Vestigial dreams of branches
And sky soaring songs
Discarded paper.

Snout

SNOUT

-noun
 1. the part of an animal's head projecting forward and containing the nose and jaws; muzzle.
2. Entomology . an anterior prolongation of the head bearing the mouth parts, as in snout beetles.
3. anything that resembles or suggests an animal's snout in shape, function, etc.
4. a nozzle or spout. 5. a person's nose, especially when large or prominent.

Veal snout Crisp and juicy
Not the usual fare
Both of us
(the veal and I)
Surprised
Delighted.

Gall

GALL

—noun
1. informal . impudence
2. bitterness; rancour
3. something bitter or disagreeable
4. physiol. an obsolete term for bile
5. an obsolete term for gall bladder

—noun
1. a sore on the skin caused by chafing
2. something that causes vexation or annoyance.
3. irritation; exasperation
—verb
4. pathol. to abrade (the skin, etc.) as by rubbing
5. (trans.) to irritate or annoy; vex

—noun
an abnormal outgrowth in plant tissue caused by certain parasitic insects, fungi, bacteria, or mechanical injury




As much as it galls me
To see her invade our territory
She is too cute to be chased away

Fuliginous

FULIGINOUS

—adj
1. sooty or smoky
2. of the colour of soot; dull greyish-black or brown

























Forgotten by time
A fuliginous place of rest
For the terminally weary

Low

LOW

-adj.
1. situated, placed, or occurring not far above the ground, floor, or base.
2. of small extent upward; not high or tall.
3. not far above the horizon, as a planet.
4. lying or being below the general level.
5. designating or pertaining to regions near sea level, especially near the sea.
6. bending or passing far downward; deep.
7. (of a garment) low-necked; décolleté.
8. rising but slightly from a surface.
9. of less than average or normal height or depth, as a liquid or stream.
10.near the first of a series.
11.ranked near the beginning or bottom on some scale of measurement.
12.indicating the bottom or the point farthest down.
13.lacking in strength, energy, or vigour; feeble; weak.
14.providing little nourishment or strength, as a diet.
15.of small number, amount, degree, force, intensity, etc.
16.indicated or represented by a low number.
17.soft: subdued; not loud.
18.Music . produced by relatively slow vibrations, as sounds; grave in pitch.
19.assigning or attributing little worth, value, excellence, or the like.
20.containing a relatively small amount.
21.nearing depletion; not adequately supplied.
22.depressed or dejected.
23.far down in the scale of rank or estimation; humble.
24.of inferior quality or character.
25.lacking in dignity or elevation, as of thought or expression.
26.mean, base, or disreputable.
27.coarse or vulgar.
28.Boxing . struck or delivered below a contestant's belt.
29.Biology . having a relatively simple structure; not complex in organization.
30.Phonetics . (of a vowel) articulated with a relatively large opening above the tongue, as the vowels of hat, hut, hot, ought, etc.
31.Automotive . of, pertaining to, or operating at the gear transmission ratio at which the drive shaft moves at the lowest speed with relation to the speed of the engine crankshaft, used especially for temporarily overcoming the weight or inertia of the vehicle; first.
32.Baseball . (of a pitched ball) passing the plate at a level below that of the batter's knees.
33.Cards . having less value than other cards.
34.Metallurgy . having a relatively small amount of a specified constituent (usually used in combination with a noun)
35.Chiefly British . holding to Low Church principles and practices.
-adv.
36.in or to a low position, point, degree, etc.
37.near the ground, floor, or base; not aloft.
38.in or to a humble or abject state.
39.in or to a condition of depletion, prostration, or death.
40.at comparatively small cost; cheaply.
41.at or to a low pitch, volume, intensity, etc..
42.in a low tone; softly; quietly.
43.Archaic . far down in time; late.
-noun
44.something that is low, as ground or prices.
46.Meteorology . an atmospheric low-pressure system; cyclone.
47.Cards .
a. the lowest trump card.
b. a card of small value, or of lower value than other cards.
c. the lowest score in a game.
d. a player having such a score.
48.a point of deepest decline, vulgarity, etc.

-verb (used without object)
1. to utter the deep, low sound characteristic of cattle; moo.
-verb (used with object)
2. to utter by or as by lowing.
-noun
3. the act or the sound of lowing

-verb (used without object) British Dialect .
1. to burn; blaze.
2. (of a person) to feel strong emotions; glow with excitement.

























Locked in our embrace
We low, intense,
Carried away
We low in unison
Our world combusts
With our song


Stree art by Fred le Chevalier

Tilt

TILT

-verb (used with object)
1. to cause to lean, incline, slope, or slant.
2. to rush at or charge, as in a joust.
3. to hold poised for attack, as a lance.
4. to move (a camera) up or down on its vertical axis for photographing or televising a moving character, object, or the like.
-verb (used without object)
5. to move into or assume a sloping position or direction.
6. to strike, thrust, or charge with a lance or the like (usually followed by "at").
7. to engage in a joust, tournament, or similar contest.
8. (of a camera) to move on its vertical axis.
9. to incline in opinion, feeling, etc.; lean.
-noun
10.an act or instance of tilting.
11.the state of being tilted; a sloping position.
12.a slope.
13.a joust or any other contest.
14.a dispute; controversy.
15.a thrust of a weapon, as at a tilt or joust.
16.(in aerial photography) the angle formed by the direction of aim of a camera and a perpendicular to the surface of the earth.

-noun
1. a cover of coarse cloth, canvas, etc., as for a wagon.
2. an awning.
-verb (used with object)
3. to furnish with a tilt.

























The hives have not been tilted
Rain and snow could still come
Yet their roofs tilt all the same

Truce

TRUCE

-noun
1. a suspension of hostilities for a specified period of time by mutual agreement of the warring parties; cease-fire; armistice.
2. an agreement or treaty establishing this.
3. a temporary respite, as from trouble or pain.



In the miracle of spring
A fragile truce
To keep flowers in bloom

Clew

CLEW

-noun
1. a rare variant of clue . anything that serves to guide or direct in the solution of a problem, mystery, etc.
2. Nautical . either lower corner of a square sail or the after lower corner of a fore-and-aft sail.
3. a ball or skein of thread, yarn, etc.
4. Usually, clews. the rigging for a hammock.
5. Theater . a metal device holding scenery lines controlled by one weighted line.
6. Classical Mythology . the thread by which Theseus found his way out of the labyrinth.
-verb (used with object)
7. to coil into a ball.
8. to direct or point out by a clue.
9. Theater .
a. to draw up the bottom edge of (a curtain, drop, etc.) and fold out of view; bag.
b. to secure (lines) with a clew.

























A clew to hook you in
Set that feeble memory going
To stop your mind
From unravelling

Advection

ADVECTION

-noun
1. Meteorology . the horizontal transport of atmospheric properties (distinguished from convection).
2. the horizontal flow of air, water, etc.

























Mysteries and wonders
Advection drying surfaces
Gently
Concentrating flavours

Penultimate

PENULTIMATE

-adj.
1. next to the last: the penultimate scene of the play.
2. of or pertaining to a penult (the next to the last syllable in a word)
-noun
3. a penult.

























Enjoying a penultimate day
Lounging slowly into Sunday

Corinthian

CORINTHIAN

—adj.
1. of, characteristic of, or relating to Corinth
2. of, denoting, or relating to one of the five classical orders of architecture: characterized by a bell-shaped capital having carved ornaments based on acanthus leaves
3. given to luxury; dissolute
4. ornate and elaborate
—noun
5. a native or inhabitant of Corinth
6. an amateur sportsman
7. rare . a man about town, especially one who is dissolute

























Corinthian decorations
Adorn the Corinthian man
Not hiding his eyes

Scabrous

SCABROUS

—adj.
1. roughened because of small projections; scaly
2. indelicate, indecent, or salacious
3. difficult to deal with; knotty



She turns and turns
Scaling the scabrous landscape
In search for a nest
Spring beckons

Grime

GRIME

—noun
1. dirt, soot, or filth, especially when thickly accumulated or ingrained
2. a genre of music originating in the East End of London and combining elements of garage, hip-hop, rap, and jungle
—verb (trans.)
3. to make dirty or coat with filth

























With centuries and rain
Grime has accumulated
Turning gutters into gardens
Yet still pissing springtime
Over the pavement

Grotesque

GROTESQUE

-adj.
1. strangely or fantastically distorted; bizarre
2. of or characteristic of the grotesque in art
3. absurdly incongruous; in a ludicrous context
-noun
4. a 16th-century decorative style in which parts of human, animal, and plant forms are distorted and mixed
5. a decorative device, as in painting or sculpture, in this style
6. printing the family of 19th-century sans serif display types
7. any grotesque person or thing

























Your face
And limbs turning
You disappear in shadows
Changing to a grotesque
An effect of light
Or lack thereof
Darkness defining you better
Than harsh light
And reality

Moon

MOON

—noun
1. the earth's natural satellite, orbiting the earth at a mean distance of 238,857 miles (384,393 km) and having a diameter of 2160 miles (3476 km).
2. this body during a particular lunar month, or during a certain period of time, or at a certain point of time, regarded as a distinct object or entity.
3. a lunar month, or, in general, a month.
4. any planetary satellite.
5. something shaped like an orb or a crescent.
6. moonlight.
7. a platyfish.
8. Slang . the buttocks, especially when bared.
-verb (used without object)
9. to act or wander abstractedly or listlessly.
10.to sentimentalize or remember nostalgically.
11.to gaze dreamily or sentimentally at something or someone.
12.Slang . to expose one's buttocks suddenly and publicly as a prank or gesture of disrespect.
—verb (used with object)
13. to spend (time) idly
14. to illuminate by or align against the moon.
15. Slang . to expose one's buttocks to as a prank or gesture of disrespect.



It's a moon day!
A moon day!
And I intend to spend it
Mooning about!

Tyromancy

TYROMANCY

-noun
Obsolete, a form of divination involving observation of cheese, especially as it coagulates.

























I try my hand,
Mouth and palate
At tyromancy
Only predicting
Cholesterol excess
And obesity

Craven

CRAVEN

—adj.
1. cowardly; mean-spirited
—noun
2. a coward

























Far from me
The idea of calling him
A craven
But he's a nervous cat
Indeed.

Predilection

PREDILECTION

—noun
a predisposition, preference, or bias

























Here
Everywhere,
My predilection for red wine
Is telling

inhere

INHERE

—verb
(followed by "in") to be an inseparable part (of)

























Chocolate mousse
Inhering in hearts?
Or the other way around?

Whiffle

WHIFFLE

-verb (used without object)
1. to blow in light or shifting gusts or puffs, as the wind; veer or toss about irregularly.
2. to shift about; vacillate; be fickle.
-verb (used with object)
3. to blow with light, shifting gusts.



Clouds crowd in
Whiffled by a breeze
Or born of curiosity?

Cardinal

CARDINAL

—noun
1. Roman Catholic Church any of the members of the Sacred College, ranking next after the pope, who elect the pope and act as his chief counsellors
2. Also called: cardinal red a deep vivid red colour
3. Cardinal number
4. Cardinal grosbeak , also called: redbird . a crested North American bunting, Richmondena (or Pyrrhuloxia ) cardinalis, the male of which has a bright red plumage and the female a brown one
5. a fritillary butterfly, Pandoriana pandora, found in meadows of southern Europe
6. a woman's hooded shoulder cape worn in the 17th and 18th centuries
— adj
7. (usually prenominal) fundamentally important; principal.
8. of a deep vivid red colour
9. astrology . mutable



A gaggle of Dalis looks out
From the brightness of cardinal
Poking eyes out on the way

Contingent

CONTINGENT

-adj.
1. dependent for existence, occurrence, character, etc., on something not yet certain; conditional (often followed by "on" or "upon").
2. liable to happen or not; uncertain; possible.
3. happening by chance or without known cause; fortuitous; accidental.
4. Logic . (of a proposition) neither logically necessary nor logically impossible, so that its truth or falsity can be established only by sensory observation.
-noun
5. a quota of troops furnished.
6. any one of the representative groups composing an assemblage.
7. the proportion that falls to one as a share to be contributed or furnished.
8. a possible or chance occurrence























While frost is still contingent
The almond tree blooms all the same
To spite the elements

Grate

GRATE

-noun
1. a frame of metal bars for holding fuel when burning, as in a fireplace, furnace, or stove.
2. a framework of parallel or crossed bars, used as a partition, guard, cover, or the like; grating.
3. a fireplace.
-verb (used with object)
4. to furnish with a grate or grates.

-verb (used without object)
1. to have an irritating or unpleasant effect.
2. to make a sound of, or as if of, rough scraping; rasp.
3. to sound harshly; jar.
4. to scrape or rub with rough or noisy friction, as one thing on or against another.
-verb (used with object)
5. to reduce to small particles by rubbing against a rough surface or a surface with many sharp-edged openings.
6. to rub together with a harsh, jarring sound.
7. to irritate or annoy.
8. Archaic . to wear down or away by rough friction.

























Grated root celery
Rustic mustard
A dollop of mayonnaise
Lemon juice
A spoon of oil
My own version of “céléri rémoulade”.

Calefacient

CALEFACIENT

—adj
1. causing warmth
—noun
2. obsolete medical . an agent that warms, such as a mustard plaster























Nothing better
For body and soul
A calefacient cat

Exaction

EXACT

—adj.
1. correct in every detail; strictly accurate
2. precise, as opposed to approximate; neither more nor less
3. (prenominal ) specific; particular
4. operating with very great precision
5. allowing no deviation from a standard; rigorous; strict
6. based mainly on measurement and the formulation of laws, as opposed to description and classification
—verb
7. to force or compel (payment or performance); extort
8. to demand as a right; insist upon
9. to call for or require



Spring exacts blooms from the trees
Forcing them out in the frigid air
To fight for the lives of their cells
And to tempt drowsy insects with a sip

Flexuous

FLEXUOUS

—adj.
1. full of bends or curves; winding
2. variable; unsteady



Snaking up the sky
A flexuous cloud

Rill

RILL

—noun
1. a brook or stream; rivulet
2. a small channel or gulley, such as one formed during soil erosion
3. Also: rille . one of many winding cracks on the moon

























Traces on your face
Rills formed by tears
Or dried up years
A map of chaos and flavours

Neritic

NERITIC

—adj.
of or formed in the region of shallow seas near a coastline




My dreams at low tide
Neritic swamps where ideas drown
A few pebbles shining through silt.

Dysphonia

DYSPHONIA

—noun
any impairment in the ability to speak normally, as from spasm or strain of the vocal cords

























The old record
Grates and jumps
Paralysed by dysphonia

Ruck

RUCK

—noun
1. a large number or quantity; mass, especially of ordinary or undistinguished people or things
2. (in a race) a group of competitors who are well behind the leaders at the finish
3. rugby a loose scrum that forms around the ball when it is on the ground
4. Australian rules football the three players, two ruckmen and a rover, that do not have fixed positions but follow the ball closely
—verb (intr.)
5. rugby to try to win the ball by advancing over it when it is on the ground, driving opponents backward in the process

—noun
1. a wrinkle, crease, or fold
—verb
2. (usually followed by "up") to become or make wrinkled, creased, or puckered

—noun
prison slang . a fight

—noun
slang military . a rucksack

























Rucked ravioli
Are water-tight

Dysphoria

DYSPHORIA

-noun
Pathology . a state of dissatisfaction, anxiety, restlessness, or fidgeting.

























Up in the branches
This little cat
Trembles with dysphoria
And outrage

Obtain

OBTAIN

-verb (used with object)
1. to come into possession of; get, acquire, or procure, as through an effort or by a request.
2. Obsolete . to attain or reach.
-verb (used without object)
3. to be prevalent, customary, or in vogue; prevail.
4. Archaic . to succeed.

























The day the ocean retreated
Dismay and pandemonium obtained
Flipping corpses over the bed rock
Left to dry and rot away.

Bespeak

BESPEAK

-verb (used with object)
1. to ask for in advance.
2. to reserve beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for.
3. Literary . to speak to; address.
4. to show; indicate.
5. Obsolete . to foretell; forebode.

























A chilled robin
Bespeaks a slice of spring
And a welcoming nest