Dehiscent

DEHISCENT
[dɪˈhɪsənt ]

-adj.
(of fruits, anthers, etc.) opening spontaneously to release seeds or pollen

Summer joy

Of dehiscent spreads

Releasing delights

In our mouths

Litter

LITTER

-noun
1. small refuse or waste materials carelessly dropped in public places
2. a disordered or untidy condition or a collection of objects in this condition
3. a group of offspring produced at one birth by a mammal such as a sow
4. a layer of partly decomposed leaves, twigs, etc., on the ground in a wood or forest
5. straw, hay, or similar material used as bedding, protection, etc., by animals or plants
6. a means of conveying people - in particular sick or wounded - consisting of a light bed or seat held between parallel sticks
-verb
7. to make (a place) untidy by strewing (refuse)
8. to scatter (objects, etc.) about or (of objects) to lie around or upon (anything) in an untidy fashion
9. (of pigs, cats, etc.) to give birth to (offspring)
10. (trans.) to provide (an animal or plant) with straw or hay for bedding, protection, etc.

Nostalgia to the days

When the feral pet colony

Was blessed with litters

Of joyous dynamic fluff

Shim

SHIM

-noun
1. a thin packing strip or washer often used with a number of similar washers or strips to adjust a clearance for gears, etc.
2. (physics) . a thin strip of magnetic material, such as soft iron, used to adjust a magnetic field

3. (mechanical engineering) a small object or piece of material used, for example, to create a little extra height or a little extra space.

-verb
4. (trans.) to modify a load, clearance, or magnetic field by the use of shims

In the cracks of

A little shim-induced distortion

New realities awaken

Ready to seep through

Invade our plane

Art by Gomez (from the Guido Reni District 2017 Black Decade exhibition) 

Octothorp

OCTOTHORP
[ˈɒktəˌθɔːp]

-noun
Symbol used in printing, in mathematics and, commonly, on a telephone keypad, consisting of two horizontal lines, one above the other, with two diagonal lines, one beside the other, through them. Also: hash

Distorting shadows

Playing with the concept

Of octothorps and stars

Dialling lines to the horizon

A search tag dissolving

Estrange

ESTRANGE

-verb (trans.)

1. (usually passive; often followed by “from”) to separate and live apart from (someone)

2. (usually passive; often followed by “from”) to antagonize or lose the affection of (someone previously friendly); alienate

She flees

From an estranged husband

Alien children and pets

Unsure where reality is

Or what it is

Lough

LOUGH

-noun

1.  an Irish word for lake

2. a long narrow bay or arm of the sea in Ireland

Nature invaded

Violated and abandoned

Loughs regain terrain

Soon trees will be back

Furze

FURZE

-noun

any evergreen shrub of the leguminous genus Ulex, in particular the European species U. europeaus, which has yellow flowers and thick green spines instead of leaves. Also called gorse or whin

A bright flame

Furze in the rain

Flour

FLOUR

-noun
1. a powder, which may be either fine or coarse, prepared by sifting and grinding the meal of a grass, more than often wheat
2. any finely powdered substance
-verb
3. (trans.) to make (grain) into flour
4. (trans.) to dredge or sprinkle (food or cooking utensils) with flour
5. (of mercury) to break into fine particles on the surface of a metal rather than amalgamating, or to produce such an effect on (a metal) because of impurities.

The future

Encrypted in flour patterns

Speaks of annihilation

Crumbs and white laps

Tail

TAIL

-noun
1. the region of the vertebrate body that is posterior to or above the anus and contains an elongation of the vertebral column, in particular forming a flexible movable appendage
2. anything resembling such an appendage in form or position; the bottom, lowest, or rear part
3. the last part or parts
4. the rear part of an aircraft including the fin, tail-plane, and control surfaces; empennage
5. (astronomy) . the luminous stream of gas and dust particles, up to 200 million kilometres long, driven from the head of a comet, when close to the sun, under the effect of the solar wind and light pressure
6. the rear portion of a bomb, rocket, missile, etc., usually fitted with guiding or stabilizing vanes
7. a line of people or things
8. a long braid or tress of hair
9. (angling) . the lowest fly on a wet-fly cast. Also called: tailfly
10. a final short line in a stanza
11. (informal) a person employed to follow and spy upon another or others
12. an informal word for buttocks
13. (vulgar, slang)
a. the female genitals
b. (offensive) a woman considered sexually
14. (printing)
a. the margin at the foot of a page
b. the bottom edge of a book
15. the lower end of a pool or part of a stream
16. (informal) the course or track of a fleeing person or animal
-verb
17. to form or cause to form the tail
18. to remove the tail of (an animal); dock
19. (trans.) to remove the stalk of
20. (trans.) to connect (objects, ideas, etc.) together by or as if by the tail
21. (trans.) (informal) to follow stealthily
22. (trans.) (Australian) to tend (cattle) on foot
23. (intr.) (of a vessel) to assume a specified position, as when at a mooring
24. to build the end of (a brick, joist, etc.) into a wall or (of a brick, etc.) to have one end built into a wall

-noun
1. (property law) . the limitation of an estate or interest to a person and the heirs of his or her body
-adj.
2. (immediately postpositive) (of an estate or interest) limited in this way

She demurs

Unwilling to commit herself

She has been hurt before

So folds her tail

Ever so gently

Around her paws.

The way we cross arms

To signal reluctance

Precious

PRECIOUS

-adj.
1. beloved; dear; cherished
2. very costly or valuable
3. held in high esteem, in particular in the context of moral or spiritual matters
4. very fastidious or affected, as in speech, manners, etc.
5. (informal) . worthless
-adv.
6. (informal) (intensifier)

The glory of

Precious sleep

Dressed in silks

Dreaming of lemon

And seed rich cakes

Rickle

RICKLE

-noun
1. (Scottish) an unsteady or shaky structure, in particular a dilapidated building
2. (Scottish) a loose or disorganized heap

In the abstraction

A rickle-world

So symptomatic

It rings true

Cambium

CAMBIUM
[ˈkæmbɪəm ]

-noun
(Botany) . a meristem that increases the girth of stems and roots by producing additional xylem and phloem

Our love

Pure cambium

As we become woody

With age 

Marcescent

MARCESCENT

[mɑːˈsɛsənt ]

-adj.

(of the parts of certain plants) remaining attached to the plant when withered

So many layers

Marcescent history

Weeds’playground

Rustle

RUSTLE

-verb
1. to make or cause to make a low crisp whispering or rubbing sound, as of dry leaves or paper
2. to move with such a sound
-noun
3. such a sound or sounds

-verb
1. (mainly US and Canadian) to steal (cattle, horses, etc.)
2. (US and Canadian) (informal) . to move swiftly and energetically

A brewing storm
Rustles golden buds
Shedding their sweet scent
In the air

Delectable

DELECTABLE

-adj.
highly enjoyable, (often: pleasing to the taste); delightful

A few

Delectable treats

To grace the weekend

Moggy

MOGGY

-noun
(British) a slang name for cat.

Blues

For lost moggies

Lost in thoughts

Of blue

Versed

VERSED

-adj.
(postpositive; followed by “in”) thoroughly knowledgeable (about), acquainted (with), or skilled (in)

She frowns and shakes

Her mind baulking at excess

Though she is well versed in introspection

Her instinct tells her to flee

The physical realm

Homiletics

HOMILETICS

-noun

(functioning as singular) the art of preaching or writing sermons

Francesca discovered that

An expertise in homilectics

Isn’t always a good thing

Trucage

TRUCAGE

-noun
art forgery

Image processing

Always on the boundaries of trucage

Playing with past shadows

Encroach

ENCROACH

-verb (intr.)

1. (often followed by “on” or “upon”) . to intrude gradually, stealthily, or insidiously upon the rights, property, etc., of another

2. to advance beyond the usual or proper limits

Cheeky love

Ready to encroach upon one’s privacy

And peace of mind

Jail

JAIL

-noun
1. a place for the confinement of persons convicted and sentenced to imprisonment or of persons awaiting trial to whom bail is not granted
-verb
2. (trans.) to confine in prison

Purgatory

Jailed lost souls

Lost in haze

Drowned in fog

Victuals

VICTUALS

-plural noun
(sometimes singular) food or provisions

I gathered a view

A calligraphy of victuals

To celebrate picnic season

Loaf

LOAF

-noun
1. a shaped mass of baked bread
2. any shaped or moulded mass of food, such as cooked meat
3. (slang) . the head; sense

-verb
1. (intr.) to loiter or lounge around in an idle way
2. (trans.; followed by “away”) to spend (time) idly

Glorious

Sunday loafing

Everyday loafing

In the sun

Repress

REPRESS

-verb (trans.)
1. to keep (feelings, etc.) under control; suppress or restrain
2. to put into a state of subjugation
3. (psychoanalysis) to banish (thoughts and impulses that conflict with conventional standards of conduct) from one's conscious mind

Repressed chatter box

Muffled swear words

Rusting up metal

Organism

ORGANISM

-noun
1. any living biological entity, such as an animal, plant, fungus, or bacterium
2. anything resembling a living creature in structure, behaviour, etc.

Spring triumph:
The blind search
Of organism for sun
Birth from dead
Zombie flowers

Invective

INVECTIVE

-noun
1. vehement accusation or denunciation,  of in particular a bitterly abusive or sarcastic kind
-adj.
2. characterized by or using abusive language, bitter sarcasm, etc.

In an explosion

Of colourful invectives

And gaseous moaning

The day agonizes and dies

Without a shred of dignity

Structure

STRUCTURE

-noun
1. a complex construction or entity
2. the arrangement and interrelationship of parts in a construction, such as a building
3. the manner of construction or organization
4. (biology) . morphology; form
5. (chemistry) . the arrangement of atoms in a molecule of a chemical compound
6. (geology) . the way in which a mineral, rock, rock mass or stratum, etc., is made up of its component parts
7. (rare) the act of constructing
-verb
8. (trans.) to impart a structure to

Art nouveau
Mixed animal bones
Sacrifices and plants
Into the structure
Of its creations

Verse

VERSE

-noun
1. (not in technical usage) a stanza or other short subdivision of a poem
2. poetry as distinct from prose
3. a series of metrical feet forming a rhythmic unit of one line
4. a specified type of metre or metrical structure
5. one of the series of short subsections into which most of the writings in the Bible are divided
6. a metrical composition; poem
-verb
7.  a rare word for versify

Dancing waves

Dying on a shore

Verses on a wall

A world recalled

Wall art from Seiichi Niikuni - Rivier-Zandbank

Cuisine

CUISINE

-noun
1. a style or manner of cooking
2. the food prepared by a restaurant, household, etc.

Travel from home

At the tip of your fingers

Cuisine of the world

For the curious

Leman

LEMAN

-noun (archaic)

1. a beloved; sweetheart

2. a lover or mistress

Leman, leman, leman

Such a coward yet

Bold enough to beg

For a quick cuddle

Sprinkle

SPRINKLE

-verb
1. to scatter (liquid, powder, etc.) in tiny particles or droplets over (something)
2. (trans.) to distribute over (something)
3. (intr.) to drizzle slightly
-noun
4. the act or an instance of sprinkling or a quantity that is sprinkled
5. a slight drizzle

Light purple

Spring sprinkle

Dabble

DABBLE

-verb
1. to dip, move, or splash (the fingers, feet, etc.) in a liquid
2. (intr.; usually followed by “in”, “with”, or “at”) to deal (with) or work (at) frivolously or superficially; play (at)
3. (trans.) to daub, mottle, splash, or smear

In an attempt

To dabble with street art

Cute laundry has been dabbled

All over the window

Wedge

WEDGE

-noun
1. a block of solid material, in particular wood or metal, that is shaped like a narrow V in cross section and can be pushed or driven between two objects or parts of an object in order to split or secure them
2. any formation, structure, or substance in the shape of a wedge
3. something such as an idea, action, etc., that tends to cause division
4. a shoe with a wedge heel
5. (golf) . a club with a face angle of more than 50°, used for bunker shots (sand wedge) or pitch shots (pitching wedge)
6. a wedge-shaped extension of the high pressure area of an anticyclone, narrower than a ridge
7. (mountaineering) . a wedge-shaped device, formerly of wood, now usually of hollow steel, for hammering into a crack to provide an anchor point
8. any of the triangular characters used in cuneiform writing
9. (formerly) a body of troops formed in a V-shape
10. (photography) . a strip of glass coated in such a way that it is clear at one end but becomes progressively more opaque towards the other end: used in making measurements of transmission density
11. (British) (slang) . a bribe
-verb
12. (trans.) to secure with or as if with a wedge
13. to squeeze or be squeezed like a wedge into a narrow space
14. (trans.) to force apart or divide with or as if with a wedge

With or without?

This tea wedge will either

Please or disgust you

Immature

IMMATURE

-adj.

1. not fully grown or developed

2. deficient in maturity; lacking wisdom, insight, emotional stability, etc.

3. (geography) a less common term for youthful, used as meaning in the early stage of the cycle of erosion, characterized by steep slopes, lack of flood plains, and V-shaped valleys (for a river, valley, or land surface)

Kicked out of his fraternity

For particularly immature pranks

He went off in a huff and studied

The whole curriculum on his own

Liberty

LIBERTY

-noun
1. the power of choosing, thinking, and acting for oneself; freedom from control or restriction
2. the right or privilege of access to a particular place; freedom
3. (often plural) . a social action regarded as being familiar, forward, or improper
4. (often plural) . an action that is unauthorized or unwarranted in the circumstances
5. authorized leave granted to a sailor

6. (capitalized) Italian reference to Art Nouveau

Will you hear my call, see my absence?

I am caught in a forbidden dream of waste

Named liberty and devoid of warmth.

Won’t you give me food for your thoughts?

Marjoram

MARJORAM

-noun
1. an aromatic Mediterranean plant, Origanum (or Marjorana) hortensis, with small pale purple flowers and sweet-scented leaves, used for seasoning food and in salads: family Lamiaceae (labiates)
2. a similar and related European plant, Origanum vulgare

Rampant weed in the garden

Spring marjoram is eagerly awaiting

For tomato season to start

Queyn

QUEYN

-noun
a worthless girl

She a sweet thing
And will not be called a queyn
Republican at heart
She might consent to be thought of as queen

Lash

LASH

-noun
1. a sharp cutting blow from a whip or other flexible object
2. the flexible end or ends of a whip
3. a cutting or hurtful blow to the feelings, as one caused by ridicule or scolding
4. a forceful beating or impact, as of wind, rain, or waves against something
5. eyelash
-verb
6. to hit (a person or thing) sharply with a whip, rope, etc., in particular if as a punishment
7. (of rain, waves, etc.) to beat forcefully against
8. to attack with words, ridicule, etc.
9. to flick or wave sharply to and fro
10. to urge or drive with or as if with a whip

-verb
(trans.) to bind or secure with rope, string, etc.

Lashed unto a fence

Spring rampant and glorious

Subfuscous

SUBFUSCOUS

-adj.

subfusc; drab or dusky

Reinvent your life

Exist for a single font

Resist the subfuscous appeal

Of growing worries

Don’t go to Mars just yet

Remake your own universe instead

Be a sample for loyalty

Drab honour kept alive

To shine over a dying galaxy

Prattlement

PRATTLEMENT

-noun

chatter, prattling

























Take the words of the world
You don't need to whisk them.
Flip your soul into the pan
Scrambled thoughts, soft and airy
Leave prattlement. Embrace the quiet
Ribbons of silence and madness
A spiritual omelette

Opsimath

OPSIMATH

-noun

a person who learns late in life

Looking up

Finding blue sky

Beyond a troubled soul

An opsimath at finding peace

Breathing in and out.

Salacious

SALACIOUS

-adj.

1. having an excessive interest in sex

2. (of books, magazines, etc.) erotic, bawdy, or lewd

Here is spring

Having a salacious interest

In bees and flowers

Provender

PROVENDER

-noun
1. any dry feed or fodder for domestic livestock
2. food in general

Dessert too

Is provender

Cushioning body and soul

With sweet pillows

Lodestone

LODESTONE

-noun

1. a rock that consists of pure or nearly pure magnetite and thus is naturally magnetic

2. a piece of such rock, which can be used as a magnet and which was formerly used as a primitive compass

3. a person or thing regarded as a focus of attraction

Cuteness so fierce

Turned into a lodestone

That it needs protecting

Dibble

DIBBLE

-noun
1. a small hand tool used to make holes in the ground for planting or transplanting bulbs, seeds, or roots
-verb
2. to make a hole in (the ground) with a dibble
3. to plant (bulbs, seeds, etc.) with a dibble

-verb (intr.)
1. to fish by allowing the bait to bob and dip on the surface (also: dib)
2. a less common word for dabble

-noun
(British) (slang) . a policeman

It only took a dibble

To unfold a red sun

Grutch

GRUTCH

-verb (obsolete)
1. (intr.) to grudge
2. (trans.) to begrudge

Do not grutch time spent

Day dreaming about space

Pushing boundaries with mere words

Defining light with liquid shadows

Spreading the fantasy

And colouring our future

Drudge

DRUDGE

-noun
1. a person, such as a servant, who works hard at wearisome menial tasks
-verb
2. (intr.) to toil at such tasks

Some succulent fares
Involve a lot of drudge
Sharp knives and skills
Imagination sharper still

Lubricious

LUBRICIOUS

-adj.
1. (formal or literary) lewd, lascivious
2. (rare) oily or slippery





















Such a lubricious subject
But a delight for the eyes

Vexatious

VEXATIOUS

-adj.

1. vexing or tending to vex

2. vexed

3. (law) . (of a legal action or proceeding) instituted without sufficient grounds, in particular to cause annoyance or embarrassment to the defendant

A rainy day off

Just short of vexatious

Saved by an abundance of books

Salami

SALAMI

-noun

a salted and seasoned type of sausage, originally Italian, cured

In Italy

The onset of Easter

Means turning your back to diet

And indulging in salami or

Rich bread and pastries

As well as eggs