Poetry is Written in Words: Thirty-Seven

Claudia McGill 9 Comments

Poems from my Merriam-Webster Word of the Day project. For more information, look here.

scrupulous : punctiliously exact : PAINSTAKING

In black velvet skies
moons sewn with scrupulous care
rise in sparkling threads

haiku 1081 : 3/11/23

proximate : soon forthcoming : IMMINENT

we await moonrise –
the proximate appearance
of the pale goddess

haiku 1080 : 3/4/23

ignis fatuus : a light that sometimes appears in the night over marshy ground and is often attributable to the combustion of gas from decomposed organic matter…(also) : a deceptive goal or hope

moonless night
my wandering steps
cross your path
I exhale
Ignis fatuus I am
or not? You decide.

shadorma 501 : 2/10/23

Attributions:

“Scrupulous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scrupulous. Accessed 11 Mar. 2023.

“Proximate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proximate. Accessed 4 Mar. 2023.

“Ignis fatuus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ignis%20fatuus. Accessed 10 Feb. 2023.

9 thoughts on “Poetry is Written in Words: Thirty-Seven”

  1. You taught me a new phrase! I had never heard of Ignis Fatuus as I have always known that phenomena as Will-o’-the-wisp. I think all three poems capture and convey the magical quality of the moon and its alluring mysteriousness.

    • Thank you. When I first saw the phrase I thought it meant something about silly thinking (making an association with fatuous, maybe?). And the ignis part seemed to imply ignorance. Imagine my surprise! I have always heard of it as you have, and I associate it with black and white old movies set in England maybe 200 years ago. Lotta thinking going on there and none of it on target until the dictionary fixed me up.

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