Machiavellian ... Allegiance

Today’s word is “Machiavellian” ... mak-ee-uh-vel-ee-uhn ... characterized by subtle or unscrupulous cunning, deception, expediency, or dishonesty. (Dictionary.com)

Allegiance 

In every tribe and nation,

Leaders move the masses,

Some with kindness and goodwill,

Some with fear and lashes.

Why Machiavellian motives,

Move some to wield their weight,

Is a mystery unsolved,

Unless by power and hate.

And so we balance in between,

Chaotic and ordered selves,

At the mercy of their choices,

As we for revelation delve.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Vagility ... Go

Today’s word is “vagility” ... vuh-jil-i-tee ... Biology. the ability of an organism to move about freely and migrate. (Dictionary.com)

Go

On this spinning earth,

Vagility has limits.

But our souls are free.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Feint ... Dodge

Today’s word is “feint” ... feynt ... a movement made in order to deceive an adversary; an attack aimed at one place or point merely as a distraction from the real place or point of attack. (Dictionary.com)

Dodge

There is a hound of heaven,

Who, though we feint and weave,

Follows and forgives us,

(Even when we disbelieve.)

His footsteps never falter,

Though we may weary be,

Through twists and turns unending,

He waits to set us free.

It may be a bit unsettling,

That he knows our hearts so well.

Yet there’s comfort in his gaze,

Grace, everywhere he dwells.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Treen ... High

Today’s word is “treen” ... tree-uhn ... made entirely of wood. (Dictionary.com)

High

Oh for a little treen house,

High up on a limb,

With blankets, and a candle

To light when it gets dim.

A place of sanctuary,

Far from prying eyes,

Close to God and beauty,

With views to starry skies.

There would quiet and comfort be,

Uncanny bliss and peace,

A place to sigh and savor,

A place of sweet release.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Frugivorous ... Zoo

Today’s word is “frugivorous” ... froo-jiv-er-uhs ... fruit-eating. (Dictionary.com)

Zoo
They’re mad about bananas,
Frugiverous they are,
For oranges and apples,
They’ll roam both near and far.

If you feed them lettuce,
They will nibble with unease,
But give them watermelon,
And they will be most pleased.

All the little monkeys,
Will chirp their great delight,
As they go for the fruit salad,
Bite after happy bite.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2018

Velitation ... Wrong

Today’s word is “velitation” ... vel-i-tey-shuhn ... a minor dispute or contest. (Dictionary.com)

Wrong
Have you ever had a spat,
A little velitation?
And realized, soon or late,
You were part of it’s creation?

Then came upon a mystery,
That both you and your foe,
Had been arguing the same points,
As you yelled to and fro.

Then, in the settled aftermath,
The angry words seemed small,
As you had agreed on everything,
And shouldn’t have been arguing at all.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2018

Grok ... Ah!

Today’s word is “grok” ... grok. Slang. to understand thoroughly and intuitively. (Dictionary.com)

Ah!

Do you grok the situation? 

You must be smart indeed!

Only the most intelligent,

Will understand the need,

So pay attention, constant,

And listen with your heart,

You’ll unravel all the differences,

And find a place to start.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Falstaffian ... Giggle

Today’s word is “Falstaffian” ... fawl-staf-ee-uhh ... of, relating to, or having the qualities of Falstaff, especially his robust, bawdy humor, good-natured rascality, and brazen braggadocio. (Dictionary.com)

Giggle

Within the sadness,

Falstaffian humor lives.

Unexpected joy!

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Biophilia ... Touch

Today’s word is “biophilia” ... bahy-oh-fil-ee-uh ... a love of life and the living world; the affinity of human beings. For other life forms. (Dictionary.com)

Touch

Walk close to the earth,

Breathe in the living air,

Wake your senses to the sounds,

Of all things bright and fair.

Renew your love affair,

With water, earth and sky,

Biofilia is strong,

We’ll with nature unify.

Gardens bright with sun,

Green our souls also,

As the waters of the earth,

Through our hearts do flow.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Panchreston ... Source

Today’s word is “panchreston” ... pan-kres-tuh n ... a proposed explanation intended to address a complex problem by trying to account for all possible contingencies but typically proving to be too broadly conceived and therefore oversimplified to be of any practical use. (Dictionary.com)

Source

Searching for the Beginnings of

     All Things.

(Hidden as they are ... 

     Still, they invite speculation.)

Are we mere accidental stardust?

     Somehow brought to consciousness 

          By chemical whim?

If so, who or what breathed life into

     the dark spaces and places

          filled only with swirling mist?"

What unmind formed exquisitely 

     the common code of everything,

          And brought about dragonflies 

               and beasts and man?

Perhaps, to beg the question,

     life from another realm begot us ...

          But then, whence their sovereignty?

                  And where have they gone?

Perhaps we are a world within a world

     within a world ... this is beyond our ken.

Many a panchreston calculated and put forth

     for testing ... fails. And does not account for

          this perfectly conceived richness.

Sometimes, here on the razor’s edge,

     the simplest explanation is

          the best.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Neatnik ... Aurora

Today’s word is “neatnik” ... neet-nik ... Slang. a person who is extremely neat about surroundings, appearance, etc. (dictionary.com)

Aurora

See the fingerprints?

Our God is not a neatnik,

And yet beauty blooms.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Booklore ... Jacket

Today’s word is “booklore” ... book-lawr ... facts and information about books, especially about authors and circumstances of publication. (Dictionary.com)

Jacket

If you are a bibliophile,

And love all printed pages,

And booklore and ideas,

And the wisdom of the sages,

You might stay content at home,

Where dusty tomes surround you,

Like old friends who satisfy,

Whose warmth constantly renews.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Omnishambles ... Mayhem

Today’s word is “omnishambles” ... om-nuh-sham-buh lz ... Chiefly British Informal. a situation, especially in politics, in which poor judgement results in disorder or chos with potentially disastrous consequences. (Dictionary.com)

Mayhem

He runs with great abandon,

From couch to couch to chair,

His toys he’s killed around the rug,

And chewed upon my hair!

Unerringly he’ll find the place,

Where pens or earrings gather,

Then attack, or merely slip,

When he’s in a lather.

He’s so sweet when curled, asleep,

But in his dreams, I’m sure,

He’s catching wiley squirrels and birds,

In an omnishambled ball of fur!

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Purse-proud ... Spendy

Today’s word is “purse-proud” ... purs-proud ... proud of one’s wealth, especially in an arrogant or showy manner. (Dictionary.com)

Spendy

The purse-proud strut forth,

The poor stare from star-struck eyes.

But gold does not save.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Ken ... Cloud

Today’s word is “ken” ... knowledge, understanding, or cognizance; mental perception: an idea beyond one’s ken. (Dictionary.com)

Cloud

What’s beyond our ken?

Nearly everything that is.

Except love’s embrace.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Pantofle ... Unicorns

Today’s word is “pantofle” ... pan-tuh-fun l ... a slipper. (Dictionary.com)

Unicorns

In the fair days long ago,

When knights and ladies played,

Pantofles like flower blooms,

Were before all displayed.

There were dragons and their ilk,

An evil to be slain,

And heros fighting for their kings,

With all their might and main.

But what are we now fighting for,

In this chaos here?

When up is down and down is up,

And even far is near.

Grab the good to tether you,

Before you’re swept away,

The mayhem will disorient,

And only truth will stay.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Carking ... Sing

Today’s word is “carking” ... kahr-king ... Archaic. distressful. (Dictionary.com)

Sing
What lullaby can you hear,
Above the carking voices,
One that soothes the weary ear,
That in melody rejoices?

Listen closely to the sounds,
Hum along with untamed notes,
Erase the murmuring of the crowd,
Allow your mind to float.

For a moment or a day,
For seasons or for years,
There is peace unfathomed,
Waiting there to comfort fears.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2018

Tub-thump ... Voices

Today’s word is “tub-thump” ... tuhb-thuhmp ... Informal. to promote something or express opinions vociferously. (Dictionary.com)

Voices

Coming from the trees!

Tub-thumping squirrels argue.

Small social network.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Mercurial ... Fluid

Today’s word is “mercurial” ... mer-kyoor-ee-uh l ... changeable; volatile; fickle; flighty; erratic; animated; lively. (Dictionary.com)

Fluid

It snowed last Sunday morning,

We all said, “But, it’s spring!”

Monday was warm and cloudy,

And all the birds did sing.

Then a cold snap; then the sun,

So mercurial these conditions,

We never know what to expect,

Nature’s a strange magician.

History gives us the confidence,

To predict good things to come,

Rain and wind, cold and snow,

Will soon to May succumb.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Astroturfing ... Cloudy

Today’s word is “astroturfing” ... as-truh-turf-ing ... the deceptive tactic of simulating grassroots support for a product, cause, etc., undertaken by people or organizations with an interest in shaping public opinion. (Dictionary.com)

Cloudy

No astroturfing.

Bring the honest facts to light.

People need to see.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Balladmonger ... Ugh

Today’s word is “balladmonger” ... BAL-uhd-muhng-ger ... an inferior poet. (Dictionary.com)

Ugh
There once was a poet so lame,
That all of her rhymes were the same,
Try as she might,
Good words took flight,
Balladmongering took all the blame.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2018

Mea culpa ... Gossip

Today’s word is “mea culpa” ... mey-uh kuhl-puh ... an acknowledgment of one’s responsibility for a fault or error. (Dictionary.com)

Gossip

Is there a mea culpa,

Anywhere at all?

To ease the disappointments,

The duplicities and falls?

Swirling all around us,

Are stories false and true,

And we are left to discern,

Why things are so askew.

Honesty and truth,

Must become our rule,

If not we will find ourselves,

Lost and sadly schooled.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Truckle ... Invisible

Today’s word is “truckle” ... truhk-uhl ... to submit or yield obsequiously or tamely (usually followed by to) (dictionary.com)

Invisible 

Stalking squirrels and birds,

Low in the grass he lays,

They’re in his territory,

Objects of his play.

They will not truckle to him,

They’re always ill at ease,

One eye on the feeder,

The other on the trees.

And most of them are faster,

Than the feline in the weeds,

Yet he goes on chasing them,

Running at top speed.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Phraseology ... Smile

Today’s word is “phraseology” ... frey-zee-ol-uh-jee ... manner or style of verbal expression; characteristic language. (Dictionary.com)

Smile

First thing at the daybreak,

Do you wake and say,

“Ah! A great new morning!”

Or are you just blasé?

This phraseology may not,

Roll off your tongue with ease,

But if you’d use them, those you love,

Might be very pleased.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Mushyheaded ... Frequency

Today’s word is “mushyheaded” ... muhsh-ee-hed-id ... Informal. inadequately thought out. (Dictionary.com)

Frequency 

The mushyheaded

Fill the airwaves with their noise.

Where is the remote?

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Shangri-la ... Surprise

Today’s word is “Shangri-la” ... Shang-gruh-lah ... a far-away haven or hideaway of idyllic beauty and tranquility. (Dictionary.com)

Surprise

When it snows in March,

And the wind cuts like a knife,

Shanghai-la is far away,

As if buried under ice.

Crocus buds are buried,

Squirrels dig for unseen seeds,

Birds hunger at the feeder,

Filling basic needs.

But, tomorrow will be brighter,

With hope for sunny skies,

And the chill will run away, 

Spring will not be denied.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Mythoclast ... Armor

Today’s word is “mythoclast” ... mith-uh-klast ... a destroyer or debunker of myths. (Dictionary.com)

Armor

All the mythoclasts,

Waiting for dragons to slay.

They’re playing with fire.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Anecdata ...

Today’s word is “anectata” ... an-ik-dey-tuh ... anecdotal evidence based on personal observations or opinions, random investigations, etc., but presented as fact. (Dictionary.com)

Words rain down,
Anecdata punctuates like lightning.
Endless streams of commentary
Roll into seas of controversy,
Parted down the middle like the Red.
But there is no Moses uniting,
Only fighting and hiding and desperate
Searches for safe spaces.

A longing grows,
For a place of conciliation,
Conversation, where despite differences,
Each side Speaks their mind,
And is heard. And understood.
And that somehow, true compromise
Is made manifest,
A place, where a festival of grace begins,
Where all God’s people will finally shout,
“Amen!”

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2018

Inscape ... Peek

Today’s word is “inscape” ... in-skeyp ... the unique essence or inner nature of a person, place, thing, or event, especially depicted in poetry or a work of art. (Dictionary.com)

Peek

Open the flower,

Look inside, to the secret within,

To the inscape, but oh,

We can’t see it at all ...

It’s essence is all misdirection and mystery.

We may as well try to describe its color,

Or guess at its age or try to fathom 

How dry ground could yield and allow

Beauty to prosper and grow.

We are helpless and hopeless,

And left to weak guesses about

The workings of this winking world.

We might as well hold our breath,

And let wonder have its way with us.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Shavie ... Safe

Today’s word is “shavie” ... shey-vee ... Scot. a trick or prank. (Dictionary.com)

Safe

Is it just a shavie,

On this foolish day?

All this talk of resurrection?

That’s what some would say.

But for the saved and joyous,

No arguments compel,

Their songs are heard both far and wide,

And ‘round the world, they swell.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018