Aureate … Ride

Today’s word is “aureate” … golden or gilded. (Dictionary.com)

Ride

Down the highway driving,

Just an average day,

Then the light begins to wane,

And aureate beams begin to play.

The sun displays its artistry,

With oranges, reds and yellows,

Its brilliant rays bedazzel,

There’s nothing here that’s mellow.

What a beautiful display,

From such a source of power,

A stunning, brief reminder,

In a splendid golden hour.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Cordial … Quiet

Today’s word is “cordial” … courteous and gracious. (Dictionary.com)

Quiet

Cordiality,

Peace and silent communion.

Human and divine.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Whirl

 Today’s word is “rout” … a defeat attended with disorderly flight; dispersal of a defeated force in complete disorder. (Dictionary.com)

Whirl

The world needs love, or so they say,

To rout the evil that surrounds,

A prayer perhaps or solemn vow,

To stop it like a ship aground.

But more than words are needed,

More than merely thoughts,

Actions and reactions,

Are with power fraught.

Every day that passes,

Can bring the brightening light,

But we all must carry it,

Until the wrong’s made right.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Chernozem … Rich

Today’s word is “chernozem” … a soil common in cool or temperate semiarid climates, very black and rich in humus and carbonates. (Dictionary.com)

Rich

Some parts of our world are blessed,

With sun and rain in good amount,

Chernozem, and the means to til,

Bringing in too many crops to count.

Others have not such a fate,

And yet are blessed in different ways,

Resourceful people will persist,

To find what’s needed day to day.

We’re all in some way, blessed by God,

With what we need to move ahead,

If our energies are shared,

Our bounty will be widely spread.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Perfidy … Hope

Today’s word is “perfidy” … deliberate breach of faith or trust; faithlessness; treachery. (Dictionary.com)

Hope

We are the faithless,

Filled with perfidity’s ways.

Yet redeemed by grace.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Codicil … Cold

Today’s word is “codicil” … any supplement; appendix. (Dictionary.com)

Cold

Is there more that we should know? 

Is the life-book not enough?

Is a codicil required,

To make choices, hard and tough?

Apparently there must be more,

Judging from our progress drear,

The more advanced our knowing is,

The more we lose the things most dear.

Where has simple kindness gone?

Forgiveness, love and brotherhood?

The bond of working human hands,

Striving for the common good?

Are these things forever gone?

Then what’s our purpose or our fate?

It seems we’d better understand,

Before it’s finally too late.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Butte … Steps

Today’s word is “butte” … an isolated hill or mountain rising abruptly above the surrounding land. (Dictionary.com)

Steps

If you climb up on the butte,

The view will be a pleasure,

Something you’ll remember,

Yet, a commonly seen treasure.

But if you climb a mountain,

You’ll be even more inspired,

Perhaps in questing for true beauty,

Sincere effort is required.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Trident … Fade

Today’s word is “trident” … a three-pronged instrument or weapon. (Dictionary.com)

Fade

Other Gods beckon,

Standing with tridents to rule.

But love survives them.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Muliebrity … Desperate

Today’s word is “muliebrity” … womanly nature or qualities. (Dictionary.com)

Desperate

We are all confused.

     Yesterday’s muliebrity washed away.

We do not recognize ourselves.

     We could be anyone.

Our identity flows like rivers,

     Bending around proclivities,

Like a current carrying debris,

     Skirting rocks and branches.

Where are we going? Our journey

     Is directed only by the banks

          We ride between.

And these erode. Storms carry

     Wild waters which merge downstream.

Drowning is a possibility.

     Perhaps we need a handhold,

Something solid to strain toward.

     We look desperately for this …

And pray for rescue.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Serotinal … Drift

Today’s word is “serotinal” … pertaining to or occurring in late summer. (Dictionary.com)

Drift

Here they come.

     Those serotinal colors.

Leaf by leaf by leaf.

     Slowly changing everything.

At first a little pop.

     A small but intense deviation.

One little branch of contrast

     In a sea of green.

But soon enough, as though by secret signal,

     It’s own tree and then its neighbors

          Join in an unending riot.

And the forest is aflame with color.

     You can feel it through your eyes and skin.

Strange then, that this beauty cannot stay.

     Leaf by leaf by leaf they fall.

The empty branches scratch the sky,

     It will be a very long time

          Before the great rebirth.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Iridescent … Fly

Today’s word is “iridescent” … displaying a play of lustrous colors like those of the rainbow. (Dictionary.com)

Fly

Goodbye dragonflies …

Iridescent beauty gone.

See you in the spring.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Freebooter … Anchor

Today’s word is “freebooter” … a person who goes about in search of plunder; pirate; buccaneer. (Dictionary.com)

Anchor

You would think they’d gone,

The freebooters and the thieves,

Those who treasure took,

As they sailed the ancient seas.

Yet they still remain,

Bright, new costumes they have found,

Their fervent shouts and cries,

Have a familiar sound.

Meant to silence those,

Who don’t share their evil goals,

They watch with gilded glee,

Foes wrecked on rocky shoals.

They would wreck the world,

If before them it would bow,

Only the prayers of saints,

Will finally stop them now.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Yore … Times

Today’s word is “yore” … time past. (Dictionary.com)

Times

What of days of yore?

Good old days? Better than these?

Memories comfort.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Wampum … Treasure

Today’s word is “wampum” … cylindrical beads made from shells, pierced and strung, used by North American Indians as a medium of exchange, for ornaments, and for ceremonial and sometimes spiritual purposes. (Dictionary.com)

Treasure

Coins and bills and wampum,

Bricks and bars of gold,

Everything, it has its price,

Near everything is sold.

Except of course for freedom,

For feelings and for friends,

For beauty, faith and trust,

Things which have no end.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Azure …

Today’s word is “azure” … of or having a light, purplish shade of blue, like that of a clear and unclouded sky. (Dictionary.com)

Orange

Beautiful azure sky,

     Clear and cloudless,

Bright sun shinning on

     Fall’s first leaves of color.

Crisp and sharp,

     The air readies us for change.

If we will just watch

     And listen carefully,

Nature will guide us

     Step by step into her future.

The pattern has been set,

     The future mimics the past.

First the fall and then

     The biting winds of winter.

We find our old coats,

     And wrap them around us.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Repentance … Right

Today’s word is “repentance” … deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing, or the like. (Dictionary.com)

Right

They’re out of fashion …

Repentance and forgiveness.

And what about grace?

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Camion … Stuff

Today’s word is “camion” … a truck, as for military supplies. (Dictionary.com)

Stuff

We live with lots of extras,

In our lives of ease,

We buy them by the dozen,

Nearly everything we please.

When it is too much,

We store it all away,

Or take it to the second hand,

Or sell it on E-Bay.

Campions full of goods,

Ships from far-off places,

It takes a lot of work,

To put smiles on our faces.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Testudinate … Walk

Today’s word is “testudinate” … a turtle. (Dictionary.com)

Walk

There is a little fable,

Of how a turtle won a race,

Though this testudinate,

Had a pokey pace.

He just kept on going,

Inch by inch by inch,

There was one sad rabbit,

Who gave himself a pinch.

But by the time the rabbit wakened,

The finish had been crossed,

The underestimated turtle,

Was not the one who lost.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Spelunk … Muddy

Today’s word is “spelunk” …  to explore caves, especially as a hobby. (Dictionary.com)

Muddy

Spelunking through minds,

What a strange occupation.

Full of surprises.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Yclept … Hey!

Today’s word is “yclept” …  called; named.  (Dictionary.com)

Hey!

What are you yclept?

Your secret name becomes you.

And then you become.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021

Exclave … Victory

Today’s word is “exclave” … a portion of a country geographically separated from the main part by surrounding foreign territory. (Dictionary.com)

Victory

The game was very rousing,,

The little soldiers fought,

As dice were rolled they marched,

No matter what they thought.

Even from their exclaves,

They tried to hold their ground,

Even though they faltered,

Sometimes success was found.

Through the night they played,

Hoping for an unexpected win,

But by the time the sun came up,

They were all done in.

After this great failure,

They went back into their box,

Perhaps on a future day,

They will not be outfoxed.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2021