Best Merriam Poems
Zany Z’s
Zany zoo of zaftig zebras,
Zarnder manes, zebus with ziffs,
Zip through zawns, zigzag with zest
Wearing zories and a zoster
From too much zimstern, zabaglione and ziti-
Zucchini, zwieback, zeppoles, and zeps;
Zillion zitherns of zirconia
Zinging on zephyrs for the zazzy
Zemni zealous zeal for Zambonis,
Zeaxanthin zaps zinc zombie zones,
Zoographer’s zest for the zygote Zen zenith -
Zaffer zecchino of zebra finch in zamia,
Zorse in the zoysia with zinnia zepplins
Zimmers ziffs filled with zindandel zeatin,
Zorillas in zoot suits zoom like zodiac zircons
Zebrafish zithers and zorse zoology
Zippity-do-da - ziplining zorros
Zero in on zonal zapateados zip codes
Zydecos zing with zuppa and zibibs
As zany zoo zonks out to zanza zills of Zzz’s.
12-12-20
11-25-22
Contest: Mile 21 Poetry Marathon
Sponsor: Mark Toney
20 Lines
All "Z" words authenticated in Merriam Webster
"See of Ghosts"
ghosts never leave
they watch you
while you sleep
casting dreams
of their return
they wait for you
to see
ghosts never leave
whispering their
absent stories
into your delta heart
constant in deep shadows
along the undulating waves
the rocky path to them, you walk
ghosts never leave
whispering their
gracious dreams
in you they live
through all your worst
war-walled nightmares
ghosts never leave
they set their intent
in all your torrid storms
to reach you, a compass set
before you, in all your southward stories
closer north than the distant pall
ghosts never leave
you hear them
in the undertow,
their wishful tone
of eternal wanting,
peace, and love
you hear
underneath the
incessant chatter
the white noise
of who is right
and who knows best
you listen to your heart, alone,
you hear,
a ghost
and its
constant call
ghosts never leave
they watch you
while you sleep
casting dreams
of their return
they wait for you
to wake,
to see
(LadyLabyrinth / 2022)
Easter Sunday, Sydney, Australia
Home
gvlm
“Faith requires following the power of a whisper”
pall
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pall
communion.
https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/communion_1007994
The Lord's Prayer - in Aramaic + English Translation - https://youtu.be/KdXFIYug9HE
(The Lord's Prayer - in Aramaic + English Translation to be
played simultaneously with primary video (set on loop) -
285Hz + 432Hz + 639Hz - Physical Healing + Aura Cleanse + Open Heart Chakra - Through the Mist (II) -
https://youtu.be/KdXFIYug9HE)
There Winter Lonely Fallows Deeply Dream
Long after that ripe golden sunset gleam
Cool silvery tones, wavering light;
Then winter lonely fallows deeply dream
Into the grayish ghostliness of night.
Far off, yet looming bold and strangely near,
Within starry heavens they are aureoled,
Forested mountain-ranges far westward rear
Their high guardian towers as of old.
And lo! above their ancient stormy deeps,
In pensive grandeur, icy frozen browed,
One glorious forest summit there keeps
Transcendent vigil alone, pure and proud.
And we who see that shining symbol turn
A moment's while from its lone transient mood;
From that brief moment we clearly discern
Our lost souls within Nature's solitude.
Robert J. Lindley
Poem Syllable Counter Results
Syllables Per Line: 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10
Total # Syllables: 160
Total # Lines: 19 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically: N/A
Total # Words: 103
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=fallows+meaning
fal·low1
'falo/
noun
plural noun: fallows
1.
a piece of fallow or uncultivated land.
verb
3rd person present: fallows
1.
leave (land) fallow.
Origin
Old English fealgian ‘to break up land for sowing,’ of Germanic origin; related to Low German falgen .
fal·low2
'falo/
noun
plural noun: fallows
a pale brown or reddish yellow color.
Origin
Old English falu, fealu .
Translate fallows to
Use over time for: fallows
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aureole
Aureole
noun au·re·ole \'o?r-e-?ol\
Popularity: Bottom 40% of words
Definition of aureole
1
a : a radiant light around the head or body of a representation of a sacred personage b : something resembling an aureole UNSUPPORTED CODE
2
: radiance, aura UNSUPPORTED CODE
3
: the luminous area surrounding the sun or other bright light when seen through thin cloud or mist : corona
4
: a ring-shaped zone around an igneous intrusion
aureole transitive verb
----------------------
Note- Sorry my friend- I know I promised you a sonnet on winter and Nature written today but my muse insisted on two more verses.
I learned long ago. my muse is a very vindictive beast when disobeyed.
I love the word 'stupid'.
I really do!
By using this word
I can denote
actions
that are illogical
lack common sense
appear absurd
or …. are just plain 'stupid'.
I do not use the word 'moron'.
(The word 'moron' is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "a foolish or stupid person")
I also don't use 'idiot'.
(The Oxford Dictionary defines 'idiot' as "a stupid person")
No
just 'stupid'
just the action or actions
nothing else
nothing more.
(I hope this poem is not stupid)
SERENDIPITY
commercialized like dippity-do
— the extra hold hair gel.
sounds like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious*
so fresh; and clean —
a nonsense word used
when you have nothing else to say.
and let’s not forget serenity now**
yelled uncontrollably
when you need to calm down.
one more, s’il vous plaîs:***
serene, dip, dippity-doo-da-yay!
s-e-r-e-n-d-i-p-i-t-y
yes, i love to play with you
my loquacious love.
defined as: (remember to say it fast and pedantically)
the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable
(take a breath) or agreeable things not sought for****
i close my eyes in a honeysuckle fog.
the scent surprises me, dabs on my pulse points.
!!!!!!!!
i open my lids, and a friend,
i haven’t seen in eons, says hello.
!!!!!!!!!
my husband twirls me about
“serendipity” he says as he whisks me away to Paris.
!!!!!!!!!!
thus, i shall place my favorite word
in your hand like a flutterby,
i mean, of course, a butterfly —
the prism-break of
r-o-y-g-b-p and moonbows.
perhaps... i’ll look into my palm
and see your word placed there.
i draw a breath, my heart races — and yes —
it’s serendipity all over again.
8/16/2019
Favorite Word Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Chantelle Cooke
*Mary Poppins
**Seinfeld
***s’il vous plaîs - (sel-vü-ple) French meaning “if you please”
****from Merriam-Webster
You might wonder about my use of flutterby.
My brother used to give this word as a one
word clue to get me to say butterfly.
Fractured Storm
Ghostly gloom born in brooding stillness
Cut to smithereens with shards of energy
Whirlwinds in feral fragments shrillness
Warn of wild catastrophe.
Blinding firebolts erupt to split serenity
Nightfall dodges crackling outbursts released
Platinum tempests burst electricity
Splintered lights race on volatility increased.
Sonic thunder bumpers, let go pent up booms
Rip wide the transitory abyss
Slams closed jagged air as thunder looms
Solitude in ragged sound dismissed
Smashed bits of broken midnight crumble
Air’s torn edges reverberate in harrowing echoes
Drumfire’s waves of serrated sound rumble
Flashing thunderheads shriek in falsettos.
Night watch sees siroccos spiral spin
As raindrops on the dry earth sizzle
Downpours splash in roaring torrents din
Gales at rest – storm remnants sing thin whistles.
12-29-21
Contest: Weather
Sponsor: Angela Tune
N/A - 1-5-22
Contest: Your Second Chance 1st
Sponsor: Sotto Poet
Firebolts can be found in the Merriam- Webster Dictionary
Rain rushed in like a concert audience.
There’s nothing calm about Spring’s arrival.
The specter gusts regrets and survival,
Strip limbs for whips — a sore obedience.
A path cut through, a cold subservience.
The robin’s heavy breast with cheep revival.*
A rose depressed in past Spring’s archival.
Absence of warmth, enrages audience.
A sip of dandelion wine — desire
spurs wholesome cheat, complete with snowy seeds.
Remembrance of unwrinkled hands - youth’s lore,
A marshmallow on spit, and rosy fire.
Enhance the peace and love of daisy beads.
Unwind the twister’s coil, unleash Spring’s core.
3/21/2018
Greg Cornish’s Petrarchan Sonnet contest
cheep - to utter faint shrill sounds : peep, to utter a single word or sound
(from Merriam Webster dictionary) Also mimics the word “cheap”
Deathless Aches, Heart's Desires
Thoughts of Heart are as mystical ships that traverse
Ranging amidst the restless ocean ways,
Their crimson prows surging through the sunrise,
Their golden sails adream in evening haze.
Thoughts of broken spirit wander sadly
Unfriendly waters; raging, storm-shattered they roam;
Sea-reft their beauty, moaning all their music,
No haven dares to call them home.
Far sundered are their soundings, far diverging
Magic winds that sing their course,
For some may find the Hesperides, but others,
Those far, sad and dark islands of Remorse.
There they may safely harbor, dark as hell's morn
Awaiting in that cradle, where deathless aches are born!
Robert J. Lindley, 10-13-2015
Note- Non-traditional sonnet, archaic messaging.
*****************************************
(A) "adream"--Webster's Third New International Dictionary
adream adjective
Etymology: a- (I) + dream, v.
dreaming
old people motionless and adream
- See more at: http://findwords.info/term/adream#sthash.UnF3w8ZI.dpuf
(B) "reft" ---A past tense and a past participle of reave.
reave
rev/
verbarchaic
carry out raids in order to plunder.
rob (a person or place) of something by force.
"reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast"
steal (something).
source- https://encrypted.google.com/#q=reave+definition
(C) "sundered"--sun·der
's?nd?r/
verbliterary
past tense: sundered; past participle: sundered
split apart.
"the crunch of bone when it is sundered"
synonyms: divide, split, cleave, separate, rend, sever, rive
"his father and he were sundered by religious differences"
(D) Hesperides--Definition of HESPERIDES. 1. : a legendary garden at the western extremity of the world producing golden apples. 2. : the nymphs in classical mythology who guard with the aid of a dragon a garden in which golden apples grow.
Hesperides | Definition of Hesperides by Merriam-Webster
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/HesperidesMerriam-Webster
“Nothing Rhymes with Angel” ~Merriam-Webster, Encyclopedia Britannica~
Nothing Rhymes with angel…
Ocean shell, barnacle, pink coral
Choir bell, temple, chapel, steeple
People
Climb Mt. Caramel, smell a fresh timber fell
Drink 80 proof swill’
Throw a coin in the wishing wellllllll
At a seventy-five degree angle
Lift a 200-pound barbell
Marvel
Tickle, popsicle, dreamsicle, apple strudel, ice-cycle, classical
Able
Ample
Us….We are Cyclical
Hah, darn dictionary!
Sunshine Williams
Walk up to a stranger and look 'em straight in the eye
Keep looking until the world fades away at your side
and you're here, now, unbounded by silly "time"
with your "selves", that construct you feel so deep inside
Wait...
Do you see race or just some atoms that somehow came alive?
No colors, these meat coated skeletons are just a ride
A bunch of moths mistaking the moon for a porch light
Merriam Webster should replace humankind with fratricide
Cause we've been at war with our brothers like it was implied
Steal your cone cells and literally rob you [color] blind
Then maybe, just maybe, we could all see "I" to "I"
X-ensual abc
Another besotted, charmed, dissolute evening .
Fondling gadabout’s hearty invite.
Jubilation kindling lusty memories.
Nightly, orgasmic, phallic.
Quivering rose’s swelling titillation unabated.
Veritably wet. Xaerning Yang-Yin zygote`.
Notes:
Xaern= to enjoy something so much you begin to hate how much you like it.( According to Merriam-Webster, word-central)
Zygote= a cell resulting from the joining of two gametes.
20 sept 2015.
thick hair, no hair, wow
young man, then older man now ...
it snuck up on us
3/18/2023
Poetry form: Senryu
Photo credits: Billion Photos via Canva Pro
At times like this, I'm drawn to the lyrics of "A Hazy Shade of Winter," written by Paul Simon and recorded and released by Simon & Garfunkel in 1966:
"...Funny how my memory skips
While looking over manuscripts
Of unpublished rhyme
Drinking my vodka and lime
I look around
Leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter ..."
Also, in reply to you grammarians out there who feel you know the definitive answer to the modern English mystery of sneaked vs snuck, please consider the following Mirriam Webster "Words at Play" article entitled "'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?" It reads in part: "Over the past 120-odd years "snuck" has become by some estimations the more common past tense form in the US. Some people object to the sneaky upstart - especially speakers of British English - but it appears regularly and without commentary in respected publications on both sides of the pond." There's more information in the article, especially how "snuck" sneaked into the language. It's pretty sneaky. ;) merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/snuck-or-sneaked-which-is-correct
I also have a poetic license, which expires on Friday, December 31, 9999, that allows me to use whatever word suits me at any given moment. It really comes in handy during moments like this. You really ought to consider obtaining such if you don't already have one. ;)
Tempus Fugit - Cheers!
VITALITY OF TONGUE
papillae lyrics
sweet, salty, and bitter odes
grammy’s victrola
6/8/2017
Merriam-Webster's definition of "papillae"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/papilla
Pronounced pa-pill-lee
small bumps on tongue often containing taste buds
morning has broken broken dreams in the cold light of day
________________________________________________________
POET'S NOTES
With her monoku, Marlene 'Mountain' Morelock Wills (1939–2018), challenged the idea that haiku must consist of two juxtaposed images. I explore parallelism as a possible poetic device in this monoku, as well as a form of internal rhyme.
Besides the obvious meaning of "broken" (to break), "morning is broken" is an example of a contronym:
Now, as an adult, I realize that the use of “broken” in the expression “Morning has broken” is most closely related to breaking through a barrier, out of a throng, or through a surface. In fact, Merriam-Webster clusters it there: “to come into being by…bursting forth.”
PASSING NOTES: Morning Has Broken, by Christina M. Bentley October 9, 2017.
On the first day for Bobby to ski,
Bobby’s dad said, “Snow bunnies we’ll see.”
By the end of the day,
all that Bobby could say
was, “Dad, where might those rabbits all be?”
Dec. 31, 2020
for Tania Kitchin's Winter Snow Or Ice Limerick Contest Poetry Contest
Note: the definition I had in mind for this was from Merriam-Webster:
" a person and especially a girl who is a beginner in skiing."
However, urban slang also gives "other" meanings such as white girl or white girl who likes to date black men (that was new to ME)