Sunday, 31 July 2011

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.

Saturday, 30 July 2011

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!

Friday, 29 July 2011

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

Thursday, 28 July 2011

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

Wednesday, 27 July 2011

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!

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

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.

Monday, 25 July 2011

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

Sunday, 24 July 2011

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

Saturday, 23 July 2011

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.

Friday, 22 July 2011

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.

Thursday, 21 July 2011

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.

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

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

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

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.

Monday, 18 July 2011

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.

Sunday, 17 July 2011

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.

Saturday, 16 July 2011

Micawber

MICAWBER

-noun

An eternal optimist.























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

Friday, 15 July 2011

Barmecidal

BARMECIDAL

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



Barmecidal gardens
A lost topiary art

Thursday, 14 July 2011

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.

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

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

Tuesday, 12 July 2011

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.