Poems from my Merriam-Webster Word of the Day project. For more information, look here.
defer : to submit to another’s wishes, opinion, or governance usually through deference or respect
These stylish black shoes
urge me forward. Assertive.
Defer to no one.
haiku 1035 : 9/22/22
crepuscular : occurring or active during twilight
above blue-black trees
crepuscular bats flutter.
I walk. A stick breaks.
Not my foot. Someone else. Who?
I run. I stumble. I fall.
tanka 319 : 8/8/22
exacerbate : to make more violent, bitter, or severe
Raw winter
my feelings. Black trees
in white snow.
Bleak candor
exacerbates any pain
deepens every joy
shadorma 493 : 1/21/23
Attributions:
“Defer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defer. Accessed 22 Sep. 2022.
“Crepuscular.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crepuscular. Accessed 8 Aug. 2022.
“Exacerbate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exacerbate. Accessed 21 Jan. 2023.
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
I like the word crepuscular … hope I got that right, it’s quite a mouthful…it works well in your poem from which I get a feeling of a crescendo of stumbling and panic…love it 🙂
Thank you. I love this word Quite a few of these dictionary words have been hard to cope with but this one was easy. I learned the word crepusculo in Spanish (also meaning twilight) and from that became familiar with the English version. I love the sound and feeling, in either language, and it sort of fits how I feel about that time of the day. So writing this little poem, more than some others, really felt good.