Copse ... Turn

Today’s word is “copse” ... kops ... a thicket of small trees or bushes; a small wood. (Dictionary.com)

Turn

Within the kops, orange,

Harbinger of fall wonders.

A beautiful pause.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Sudoriferous ... Weather

TOday’s word is “sudoriferous” ... soo-duh-rif-er-uhs ... bearing or secreting sweat. (Dictionary.com)

Weather

The sudoriferous months,

Soon will end,

To their endless heat,

We’ll no longer bend,

Instead we’ll complain,

Of cold and bluster,

Wrapped in fuzzy coats,

That have lost their luster.

We’ll pine that summer,

Was oh so brief,

And that now we’re frozen,

With no relief.

Why we can’t be happy,

With our lot,

Is a constant mystery,

With a circular plot.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Pathos ... Justice

Today’s word is “pathos” ... pey-thos ... the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity, or of sympathetic and kindly sorrow or compassion. (Dictionary.com)

Justice

Every act that’s done,

Returns with equal pathos,

It’s consequences.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Forbearance ... Mercy

Today’s word is “forbearance” ... fawr-bair-uhns ... forbearing conduct or quality; patient endurance; self control. (Dictionary.com)

Mercy
What else can we do,
Forbear one and another ...
If love is to win.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2018

Andragogy ... Teach

Today’s word is “andragogy” ... an-druh-goh-jee ... the methods or techniques used to teach adults. (Dictionary.com)

Teach
Even grownups learn,
With andragogy for help.
Knowledge waits for us.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2018

Dreamboat ... Lookers

Today’s word is “Dreamboat” ... dream-boht ... Slang. a highly attractive or desirable person. (Dictionary.com)

Lookers

All the dreamboats come and go,

Symmetrically fine faces,

One form fitting as the last,

They attend in glamorous places.

Inside’s a different story,

Where the heart is beating,

The unformed soul’s creating,

Even as the beauty’s fleeting.

But someday all of us,

Shed of our frail, drab skin,

Will rise on glory’s shore,

Buoyed by the joy within.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Embosk ... Covered

Today’s word is “embosk” ... em-bosk ... to hide or conceal (something, oneself, etc.) with or as if with foliage, greenery, or the like. (Dictionary.com)

Covered

Yes, they were embosked,

Within the garden green,

Hoping God had not seen,

Where they both had been.

How they had betrayed him,

When they ate their fill,

As they chose their own fun,

As they chose their will.

They didn’t see it coming,

The angel at the gate,

The flaming sword, their last gaze,

When it was too late.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Glanceable ...

Today’s word is “glanceable” ... glad-such-buhl ... Digital Technology. noting or relating to information on an electronic screen that can be understood quickly or at a glance. (Dictionary.com)

Help

So much confusion,

Glanceable and obvious.

Look up to the hills.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Capitulate ... Gather

Today’s word is “capitulate” ... kuh-pitch-uh-leyt ... to give up resistance; to surrender unconditionally or on stipulated terms. (Dictionary.com)

Gather
Do not capitulate,
To the lower things,
That seek to take you down,
As to them your life you bring.

Too much hate and sorrow,
Surrounds us in this place,
To add more discouragement,
Instead of a touch of grace.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2018

Raffish ... Swagger

Today’s word is “raffish” ... raf-ish ... mildly or sometimes engagingly disreputable or nonconformist; rakish; gaudily vulgar or cheap; tawdry. (Dictionary.com)

Swagger

He is so raffish,

In his eyes, stars bow to him.

But they blow kisses.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Kyoodle ... Chaos

Today’s word is “kyoodle” ... kahy-ood-l ... to bark or yelp noisily or foolishly; yap. (Dictionary.com)

Chaos

When in is out and out is in,

Down’s up and up is down,

There’s no reason to be had,

As kyoodling voices drown.

Ad hominem slurs are flying high,

There’s no debate allowed,

One way is the only way,

The others will be cowed,

Statues fall, history erased,

As if there’ll be no repeating,

You’ll be convinced by all the screams,

Or the rituals of beating.

Where is freedom in this mess?

Where a safe space to think?

How do we stop unbridled acts,

When most just stare and blink?

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Squamous ... Wave

Today’s word is “squamous” ... skwey-muhs ... covered with or formed of squamae or scales. (Dictionary.com)

Wave

Bobbing on water,

Hunting the squamous fishes,

Unseen below us.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Lunula ... Complex

Today’s word is “lunula” ... loo-nyuh-luh ... something shaped like a narrow crescent, as the small, pale area at the base of the fingernail. (Dictionary.com)

Complex
Tiny lunula,
One of many small details,
We are perfection.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2018

Prima facie ... Blow

Today’s word is “prima facie” ...prahy-muh fey-shuh ... plain or clear; self-evident; obvious. (Dictionary.com)

Blow

The leaves are blowing in the trees,

We see them from afar.

The ducks are ducking in the pond,

The sight is prima facie.

Seeing is the mode we use,

When a point we’re making,

Because we think it’s all we need,

To prove that we’re not faking.

But some facts are beyond our ken,

And theories are created,

They’re good enough for now, you see,

But with certainty not fated.

So ideas must with faith be filled,

Until our eyes are certain,

‘Til then we’ll march with muted sight

Our “facts” like shadowed curtains.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Corpocracy ... Spin

Today’s word is “corpocracy” ... kawr-pok-ruh-see ... a society in which corporations have much economic and political power. (Dictionary.com)

Spin

Giant wheels keep turning,

Wheels of policy and power,

Corpocracies and politics,

Over most they tower.

So what recourse do we have,

When all control is lost,

And those who turn the greasy wheels,

No longer count the cost?

What is in our tiny hands,

And in our hearts and minds,

Is all that really matters,

We cannot be resigned.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Anodyne ... Soon

Today’s word is “anodyne” ... an-uh-dahyn ... anything that relieves distress or pain. (Dictionary.com)

Soon

Restless sorrow stalks,

A peaceful anodyne rests

Waiting discovery.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Marplot ... Unreasonable

Today’s word is “marplot” ... mahr-plot ... a person who mars or defeats a plot, design, or project by meddling. (Dictionary.com)

Unreasonable

Marplots everywhere,

Hiding from us in plain sight.

Destruction their aim.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Riant ... Fine

Today’s word is “riant” ... rahy-uhnt ... laughing; smiling; cheerful. (Dictionary.com)

Fine

If everything was perfect,

All blue and sunny skies,

Perfect health and wisdom,

Riant happiness, no lies,

If all your friends were truly,

Full of loyalty,

And you were treated every day,

Like some sort of royalty,

Would you know of sadness,

Of suffering or pain,

Would compassion pour free from you,

With no ordinary strain?

Or is pain only recognized,

When compared to health,

And poverty a detriment,

When compared to wealth?

Maybe we are like the moon,

Our dark side obvious,

Compared to the reflected light

Of the sun that shines on us.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Laeotropic ... Lost

Today’s word is “laeotropic” ... lee-uh-trop-ik ... oriented or coiled in a leftward direction, as a left-spiraling snail shell. (Dictionary.com)

Lost

If I lost my way,

I’d not go laeotropic.

But step to the right.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Perseid ... Prescient

Today’s word is “Perseid” ... pur-see-id ... Astronomy. any of a shower of meteors appearing in August and radiating from a point in the constellation Perseus. (Dictionary.com)

Prescient 

Some say the end of life,

     comes with a whimper small,

But others have seen with

     Spirit eyes,

A sight more dazzling than

     the Perseids as they stream the heavens.

We do not, they say, know ourselves.

     What we have been or will become.

And that if we could see, we would not

     believe our eyes.

Until we face that sheltered moment,

     We can only wonder.

But look into the believer’s eyes,

     There is a glimmer of what will be.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Decorous ... See

Today’s word is “decorous” ... dek-er-uhs ...characterized by dignified propriety in conduct, manners, appearance, character, etc. (dictionary.com)

See

Not so decorous,
Lunch with the tax collectors,
He sees into hearts.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Agora ... Shhh

Today’s word is “agora” ... ag-er-uh ... the place where a popular political assembly met in Ancient Greece, originally a marketplace or public square.  (Dictionary.com)

Shhh

Silenced agora.

One opinion rules them all.

Orwell on display.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Littoral ... Drop

Today’s word is “littoral” ... lit-er-uhl ... of or relating to the shore of a lake, sea, or ocean. (Dictionary.com)

Drop

Crashing waves surge,

Gulls cry,

Gray sky hugs the littoral,
The breeze blesses.

Here anxiety flees,
Fears release,
The past and future vanish,
This moment, everything.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2018

Calescent ... Blow

Today’s word is “calescent” ... kuh-les-uhnt ... growing warm; increasing in heat. (Dictionary.com)

Blow

We waited so long,

For calescent breezes,

Now the hot wind,

Does not really please us.

The grass is complaining,

By turning dry brown,

Bushes so sad,

They fold and they frown.

An invisible rain,

Finally falls from the sky,

We open our windows,

Breathing life with a sigh.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Normcore ... Core

Today’s word is “normcore” ... nawrm-kawr ... a fashion style or way of dressing characterized by ordinary, plain clothing with no designer names, often a reaction against trendy fashion. (Dictionary.com)

Core

Let’s keep it simple,

Normcore clothing and fresh food.

Too complicated?

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Chevelure ... Temp

Today’s word is “chevelure” ... shev-uh-loor ... a head of hair. (Dictionary.com)

Temp

Such a great chevelure,

Wafting in the breeze,

He thinks it will always be there,

His to coif with ease.

He thinks his knees will carry him,

Reliably for years,

And his muscles will obey,

His commands most clear.

But all things at last grow weary,

And give out soon or late,

The only thing that he can do,

Is live and love and wait.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Vespine ... Ouch

Today’s word is “vespine” ... ves-pahyn ... of or relating to wasps. (Dictionary.com)

Ouch

Step near their burrow ... 

Their vespine greeting will stun.

Protecting their own.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Squiz ...

Today’s word is “squiz” ... a quick, close look. (Dictionary.com)

Headlines terrify,

A squiz might destroy your day.

Watch the butterflies.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Arctophile ... Cuddle

Today’s word is “arctophile” ... ahrk-tuh-fahyl ... a person who is very fond of and is usually a collector of teddy bears. (Dictionary.com) This is a tanka poem. Line one and three have 5 syllables; lines two, four and five have 7. A teddy bear tanka!

Cuddle
From the crooked shelves,
The arctophile’s bears stare wide,
Paddington and Pooh,
(Most famous stars of all time)
Reliable, fuzzy friends.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2018

Nubilous ... Vortex

Today’s word is “nubilous” ... noo-buh-luhs ... cloudy or foggy. (Dictionary.com)

Vortex

Nublilous

Words flow. Everywhere.

Changing meanings day by

Day. Reality spinning wildly.

Quiet!

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018

Improbity ... Revolt

Today’s word is “improbity” ... im-proh-bi-tee ... lack of honesty or moral scruples. (Dictionary.com)

Revolt

Improbity should not surprise,

In this world of woe,

As from ancient wisdom’s lessons,

We’ve retreated oft and slow.

With no teacher’s voices,

Expressing virtue’s gains,

Truth and righteous actions,

Are interpreted, insane.

Our folly will undo us,

Unless we turn around,

Toward God’s eternal values,

Our hope and solid ground.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2018