Birling ... Tip

Today's word is "birling" ... BUR-ling... Chiefly Northern U.S. a game played by lumberjacks, in which each each tries to balance longest on a floating log while rotating the log with the feet. (Dictionary.com)

Tip
Balancing in life,
Is like a burling contest,
Wet, cold feet and all.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Anomia ... Whiskers

Today's word is "anomia" ... uh-NOH-mee-uh ... Medicine/Medical. the inability to name objects or to recognize the written or spoken names of objects. (Dictionary.com)

Whiskers
My cat is an anomiac,
She knows not food or string,
She cannot identify a dog or flower,
Or anything with wings.

She seems to get along just fine,
She's not worried in the least,
I guess that is the difference,
Between me and the beast.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Wayworn ... Rough

Today's word is "wayworn" ... WEY-wawrn ... worn or wearied by travel. (Dictionary.com)

Rough

Though we begin as innocent babes,

And through happy childhood grow,

Soon enough the weight of days,

On our wayworn faces shows.

The goodness of the earth provides,

It's own treasures rare,

But even these do not erase,

The lines that come with care.

Only later do we see,

That along our broken way,

Wisdom comes through twists and turns,

And in muted shades of gray.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Minimax ... Bet

Today's word is "minimax" ... MIN-uh-maks ... a strategy of game theory employed to minimize a player's maximum possible loss. (Dictionary.com)

Bet

What's the minimax,

That will keep us in safety?

Can you measure grace?

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Galumph ... Pooh

Today's word is "galumph" ... guh-LUHMF ... to move along heavily and clumsily. (Dictionary.com)

Pooh

The best of all the stories,

I heard as a child,

Was of a bear and hunny,

And a night most wild.

This bear of little brain,

With friend Piglet, dug a trap,

To catch a galumphing heffalump,

(He'd heard that it was fat.)

But soon the bear was in it,

And Piglet ran away,

If the boy'd not saved him,

He'd be in it to this day!

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Donnybrook ... Winner

Today's word is "donnybrook" ... DON-eye-brook ... an inordinately wild fight or contentious dispute; brawl; free-for-all. (Dictionary.com)

Winner

Now we're all just waiting,

For the removal of the gloves,

For the donnybrooks to start up,

No more peace and love.

Each candidate has answers,

For things that have gone wrong,

And they are each positive,

That we should go along.

Eventually the characters,

Will be sorted, wheat from chaff,

And our lives will be filled with hope,

As we rejoice and laugh.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Scarbotic ... Better

Today's word is "scorbutic" ... skawr-BYOO-tik ... Pathology. pertaining to, of the nature of, or affected with scurvy. (Dictionary.com)

Better
No one scarbutic,
Would refuse a healing balm,
Only the stubborn.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Snickersnee ... Hook

Today's word is "snickersnee" ... SNIK-er-snee ... a knife, especially one used as a weapon. (Dictionary.com)

Hook

Out on the pirate seas,

All manner of booty's taken,

By wild-eyed, maddened men,

Who leave their victims shaken.

I've heard the stories wild,

Of snickersees and treasure,

Planks walked by wiley traitors,

And conquest without measure.

But for the rest of us,

Unhindered by these wishes,

The world's not the bounding main,

And we're not food for fishes.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Penitent ... Heal

Today's word is "penitent" ... PEN-i-tuhnt ... feeling or expressing sorrow for sin or wrongdoing and disposed to atonement and amendment; repentant; contrite. (Dictionary.com)

Heal
In our brokenness,
And through our fears,
We work out love's commands.

Sometimes those shattered places 
Are a sabbath from ourselves,
Where penitence brings peace.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Enervate ... No

Today's word is "evervate" ... EN-er-veyt ... to deprive of force or strength; destroy the vigor of; weaken. Synonyms: enfeebled, debilitate, sap, exhaust. (Dictionary.com)

No

Bad news. It shatters.

Enervates. Causes shock

And sadness. A knowing

That feeling better is

A long way off.

And though it happens,

Every day, to someone,

We forget to prepare ahead

Like boyscouts.

If we should, however,

Pray and study,

And love enough,

Our hearts might be slightly

More ready when the

Sky darkens.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Timocracy ... Reverse

Today's word is "timocracy" ... tahy-MOK-ruh-see ... a form of government in which a certain amount of property is requisite as a qualification for office. (Dictionary.com)

Reverse
So many ways to rule a world,
To remain above it all,
To keep power close at hand,
Others at your beck and call.

Whether with timocracy,
Or autocratic zeal,
The only thing that matters,
Is how the rulers feel.

How different then, the law of love,
Which gives itself away,
Placing others above self,
Revelation on display.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Gingerly ... Eat

Today's word is "gingerly" ... JIN-jer-lee ... with great care or caution; warily. (Dictionary.com)  

Eat
The little squirrel,
Walks gingerly through grey grass,
Looking for winter.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Shibboleth ... Facet

Today's word is "shibboleth" ... SHIB-uh-lith, -leth. a particularity of pronunciation, behavior, mode of dress, etc., that distinguishes a particular class or set of persons. a slogan; catchword. (Dictionary.com)

Facet

Our life is precious;

no shibboleth describes this ... 

diamond in the rough.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Too-too ... Squeeze

Today's word is "too-too" ... TOO-TOO ... Informal. excessively and tastelessly affected: The movie was simply too-too. (Dictionary.com)

Squeeze
Wandering through the shops,
Where everything is just too-too,
The dresses are zero to one,
And fit only a very few.

Baubles go for a fortune,
The purses are immense,
All the footwear overrated ... 
Walking in them pure suspense.

What good is all this fashion,
That disguises the exterior?
And makes us size fourteens,
Feel so darn inferior?

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Crackerjack ... Hero

Today's word is "crackerjack" ... KRAK-er-jak ... Informal. a person or thing that shows marked ability or excellence. (Dictionary.com)

Hero

We're looking for a crackerjack,

With strength and compass true,

Who will act with comprehension,

And know just what to do.

Our world is full of danger,

War and dark despair,

Someone of character is needed,

Who with steely eye will stare.

Oh, soon and very soon,

These moments will be past,

All will belong to history,

And we'll be home at last.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Tommyrot ... Volume

Today's word is "tommyrot" ... TOM-ee-rot. nonsense; utter foolishness. (Dictionary.com)

Volume 
If you think that you've been taught,
Everything you need to know,
That man is best of everything,
Then you've bought into a show.

It is only tommyrot,
These tales of human glory,
That we, without devine help,
Can edit our own stories.

The author is the only one,
Whose narrative is true,
And he knows how this tale will end,
When he creates us all anew.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Mollify ... Spin

Today's word is "mollify" ... MOL-uh-fahy ... to soften in feeling or temper, as a person; pacify; appease. to mitigate or reduce; soften: to mollify one's demands. (Dictionary.com)

Spin
Righteous indignation,
Will never be mollified.
Pride is its master.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Genesis ... Focus

Today's word is "genesis" ... JEN-uh-sis ... an origin, creation, or beginning. (Dictionary.com)

Focus

From the genesis,

We've misunderstood our mission,

And our creator.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Blarney ... Stoned

Today's word is "blarney" ... BLAHR-nee ... flattering or wheedling talk; cajolery.

Stoned

All I hear is blarney,

And though I know it is

I can't do a thing about it,

As it goes by with a whiz.

Who makes all this stuff up?

What are they trying to do?

Is there purpose beyond profit,

In their charismatic crew?

I want to see things clearly,

Not covered in a fog,

I think the splinters in their eyes,

Resemble blinding logs.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Swimmingly ... Hydrosphere

Today's word is "swimmingly" ... SWIM-ing-lee... without difficulty; with great success; effortlessly. (Dictionary.com)

Hydrosphere

Is your only goal,

To get on most swimmingly,

In the midst of rain? 

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Mundane ... Dig

Today's word is "mundane" ... muhn-DEYN ... common; ordinary; banal; unimaginative. (Dictionary.com)

Dig

All the petty little things,

All of the mundane,

Days that drag themselves to years,

Every hour the same.

How to break monotony,

Is the question, true

How to find some meaning, sure,

In each moment new.

This life is more than pleasure,

If you would find peace,

The heart must find its treasure,

Buried in release.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Fata Morgana ... Glance

Today's word is "Fata Morgana" ... Italian FAH-tah mawr-GAH-nah. Meteorology.  a mirage consisting of multiple images, as of cliffs and buildings, that are distorted and magnified to resemble elaborate castles, often seen near the Straits of Messina.

Glance

We attempt to watch the future,
And squint to read the signs,
Tea leaves and thrown bones,
Stars that must align.

But by mist we're blinded,
A Fata Morgana shimmers near,
While this breath is granted,
The rest is less than clear.

Within our precious time,
We can but love and wait,
And allow our broken souls to feel,
The grace that God creates.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Ogdoad ... Plus

Today's word is "ogdoad" ... OG-doh-ad ... the number eight or a group of eight. (Dictionary.com) 

Plus
A monad is just one,
A duad a group of two.
A triad's made of three,
A tetrad's four you see.

A pentad consists of five,
A hexad is only six,
A heptad is seven exactly,
An ogdoad is eight compactly.

An ennead is filled with nine,
And a decade's all of ten,
But we count one, two three,
Of numerals there is no end.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Afebrile ... Better

Today's word is "afebrile" ... ey-FEE-brushless ... without fever; feverless. (Dictionary.com)

Better

When sickness disappears,

And enfebrile is your state,

The world around looks up,

And again you love your fate.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Astraphobia ... Shaky

Today's word is "astrophobia" ... as-truth-FOH-bee-uh ... Psychiatry. an abnormal fear of thunder and lightning. (Dictionary.com)

Shaky

When hungry thunder rocks the land,

And lightening strikes the trees,

Astrophobia may overcome,

Your heart to some degree.

No matter how much strength you have,

Though you are bold and brave,

Standing up to lightening's fury,

Might not be the thrill you crave.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Earwitness ... Return

Today's word is "earwitness" ... Law. a person who testifies or can testify to what he or she has heard. (Dictionary.com)

Return

I wish they were here,

The earwitnesses of old,

To tell me secrets.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2015

Ibidem ... Leaves

Today's word is "ibidem" ... ih-BEE-dem ... Latin. in the same book, chapter, page, etc. (dictionary.com)

Leaves
Every day goes by,
Ibidem, as the years fly ...
The book? Our very lives.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Coincident ... Dapple

Today's word is "coincident" ... koh-IN-si-duhnt ... happening at the same time. (Dictionary.com)

Dapple
Treading lightly through the wood,
Coincident with the dawn,
Come delicate on silent feet,
A doe with tiny fawn.

With frozen stance and wary eyes,
She barely breathes her fear,
Protecting well her little one,
From anyone too near.

Their camouflage is perfect,
Painted into the tremulous trees,
Shifting shadowed sunlight,
Envelopes, holds and frees.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Gubernatorial ... Faces

Today's word is "gubernatorial" ... goo-ber-nuh-TAWR-ee-uhl ... of or relating to a state governor or the office of state governor. (Dictionary.com)

Faces
This is the beginning,
Of all things gubernatorial,
Governmental choices,
That may become memorial.

Why does it start so early,
This leadership preview?
Just hand me their biographies,
I'll decide who should be new.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015

Well-nigh ...

Today's word is  "Well-nigh" ... "WEL-nahy" ... very nearly; almost: It's well-nigh bedtime. (Dictionary.com)

A little walk through the park,
Full of nature and of art,
Beckoned this warm afternoon,
As our journey we did start.

They said that we'd enjoy the hike,
And the hills might have a grade,
So we wore our covered shoes,
In case through rocks we'd have to wade.

We picked up sturdy hiking sticks,
And started up the trail,
We realized right then and there,
We'd soon begin to fail.

Art is good, nature most fine,
Together they're a fit,
But it's well-nigh time to head home
When all you want to do is sit!

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2015