Fain

FAIN

–adv.
1. gladly; willingly.
–adj.
2. content; willing.
3. Archaic . constrained; obliged.
4. Archaic . glad; pleased.
5. Archaic . desirous; eager.




I fain wish
My love’s many happy returns
Kissing him softly
But he moans and tosses
Asleep, still.

Plummet

PLUMMET

–noun
1. Also called plumb bob. a piece of lead or some other weight attached to a line, used for determining perpendicularity, for sounding, etc.; the bob of a plumb line.
2. something that weighs down or depresses.
–verb (used without object)
3. to plunge.



In absence of plummet
We’ve resorted to makeshift creations
Such as our life would dictate:
My dad uses an African statuette
I use a baking ring

Traipse

TRAIPSE

–verb (used without object)
1. to walk or go aimlessly or idly or without finding or reaching one's goal.
–verb (used with object)
2. to walk over; tramp.
–noun
3. a tiring walk.






















Traipsing through the green
Looking for traces of spring
Scrawled all over the lawn.

Fluke

FLUKE

-noun
1. The flat, triangular piece at the end of an arm of an anchor.
2. A barb or barbed head on a harpoon, arrow, etc.
3. Either of the two lobes of a whale's tail.

-noun
A chance occurrence, especially a stroke of good luck.

-noun
1. A flatfish, especially a flounder of the genus Paralichthys.
2. A trematode: a type of flatworm.



Sheer fluke:
One of my pictures
Earning me a guide book
To a region I'd love to visit.

Gird

GIRD

–verb (used with object)
1. to encircle or bind with a belt or band.
2. to surround; enclose; hem in.
3. to prepare (oneself) for action.
4. to provide, equip, or invest, as with power or strength.

–verb (used without object)
1. to gibe; jeer (usually followed by "at").
–verb (used with object)
2. to gibe or jeer at; taunt.
–noun
3. a gibe.























I rely on luscious food
To gird me with comfort
And subcutaneous fat.

Gird me all you can
I feel safety in numbers
Reading from my scales.

Trow

TROW

–verb (used without object), verb (used with object)
Archaic . to believe, think, or suppose.






















He
Trows
Dinner
Is coming
By intervention
Of house elves in green pointed hats
I fear we disappoint him still
Although he cares not
As long as
His food
Does
Come.

Inosculate

INOSCULATE

-verb tr., intr.
To join or unite.





















A strategic ingredient
Inosculates creativity and fingers
Anew.

Snaffle

SNAFFLE

-trans. verb
to obtain especially by devious or irregular means
-noun
a simple usually jointed bit for a bridle



Hermes' presence is a clear give away:
The lady on the right is deep into her neighbour's clothes
Busy snaffling the poor girl's knickers.

Cacoethes

CACOETHES
[kak-oh-ee-theez]

–noun
an irresistible urge; mania.



Scribbling cacoethes
I am in there with Juvenal
And so many others.

Castrophrenia

CASTROPHRENIA

-noun
A morbid fear or delusion, occasional in schizophrenic patients, that their thoughts are being sucked out of their brains by enemies. Also spelled castraphrenia






















“Like carrots!” He cried
“Like carrots, they plop each one of them out of my head!”
“Castrophrenia” wrote the practician, wondering idly if thoughts were orange or even remotely crunchy

Whelm

WHELM

–verb (used with object)
1. to submerge; engulf.
2. to overcome utterly.
–verb (used without object)
3. to roll or surge over something, as in becoming submerged.






















I chose to let the smile
Whelm over sadness
For things beyond my control
Rust gritting my teeth.

Slumgullion

SLUMGULLION

–noun
1. a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
2. a beverage made weak or thin, as watery tea, coffee, or the like.
3. the refuse from processing whale carcasses.
4. a reddish, muddy deposit in mining sluices.























In winter’s grip
We wrap ourselves
Around spicy slumgullions
And into potent wines

Perceptive

PERCEPTIVE

–adj.
1. having or showing keenness of insight, understanding, or intuition.
2. having the power or faculty of perceiving.
3. of, pertaining to, or showing perception.






















Despite years of pretending
He was someone highly perceptive
He was forced to admit
That life largely
Passed him by
Still.

Parity

PARITY

-noun
Equality in amount, status, etc.

-noun
1. The condition of having given birth.
2. The number of children borne by a woman



Parity has us at a disadvantage
Only a few of us able to master that feat
And a good number of these
To live still.

Background picture courtesy of the Library of Congress on Flickr.

Shamrock

SHAMROCK

-noun
any of several trifoliate plants, as the wood sorrel, Oxalis acetosella,  or a small, pink-flowered clover, Trifolium repens minus,  but especially Trifolium procumbens,  a small, yellow-flowered clover: the national emblem of Ireland.























With the light just so
They look real
Kissed by life and glory
Glittering softly
Sugar confections
Fancy cake garnish
Of tropical disposition.
Shy Tanzanian violets
Ready for a party
Clad in green and shamrocks.



The background picture is copyright of Willow (Tess) of Willow Manor, who has put it forth as a writing prompt.
Join the writing fun at Magpie Tales.

Fumigate

FUMIGATE

–verb (used with object)
to expose to smoke or fumes, as in disinfecting or exterminating roaches, ants, etc.
























Despite the near advent of spring
Frost still fumigates our garden
Getting rid of mosquito larvae
And precocious blooms alike.

Pilcrow

PILCROW

-noun
a paragraph mark





















Pilcrows spread about the page
Anchors for phrases and notions
Dreams hooked to bent talons.

Rudimentary

RUDIMENTARY

–adj.
1. pertaining to rudiments or first principles; elementary.
2. of the nature of a rudiment; undeveloped or vestigial.
3. primitive.



All over the lawn
Rudimentary shower
Nature’s Morgenstern
Battering seeds in
Spreading tree madness

Clove

CLOVE

–noun
1. the dried flower bud of a tropical tree, Syzygium aromaticum, of the myrtle family, used whole or ground as a spice.
2. the tree itself.

–noun
Botany . one of the small bulbs formed in the axils of the scales of a mother bulb, as in garlic.

–verb
a simple past tense of cleave





















She clove the bulbs
Picking up the cloves
Doomed to later pickle
In wine vinegar
Fragrant with cloves


The background picture is copyright of Willow of Willow Manor, who has put it forth as a writing prompt.
Join the writing fun at Magpie Tales.

Helot

HELOT

-noun
A serf or slave.






















Furry heads
Love the helots
In their humans
Worshipping
Skilled hands
Most