Poems from my Merriam-Webster Word of the Day project. For more information, look here.
Note : This entry occurs out of order because I wanted to post it with some news: my husband and I are moving – after twenty years in our current house, thirty+ in our current town, and for my husband, his whole life in this immediate area – to a new home about fifty miles away and located in another state. It’s time for a change as we move into the retirement phase of our lives, and we hope we will be anything but retiring as we get to know our new town.
So, for today, I have chosen dictionary word poems that treat some aspect of the concept of newness. We will be leaving our old house in about ten days. We are saying good-bye and hello in alternation these days.
I’ll be trying to keep up with blog things as much as possible while we are making this transition. As always, thank you for reading.
teem : to become filled to overflowing
Oh this anthill teems
with creatures concerned with schemes.
Old dreams. New regimes.
haiku 1016 7/3/22
avuncular : suggestive of an uncle especially in kindliness or geniality
New vacuum cleaner
Old broom’ s avuncular voice
raspy with wisdom:
Pace yourself. Dirt is endless.
Don’t sweep yourself dead too soon.
tanka 344 : 10/9/22
circumscribe : to surround by or as if by a boundary
I glimpse a new life
Hopes and prospects circumscribed
by nothing more than
the tall trees of memory.
I raise my axe and I swing.
tanka 412 : 4/8/23
undergird : to form the basis or foundation of : STRENGTHEN, SUPPORT
with patient stitches
construct the undergirding
lattice the windows
set the lintel mark the door.
A new needle sews this house.
tanka 418 : 4/19/23
Attributions:
“Teem.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/teem. Accessed 3 Jul. 2022.
“Avuncular.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avuncular. Accessed 9 Oct. 2022.
“Circumscribe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/circumscribe. Accessed 8 Apr. 2023.
“Undergird.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/undergird. Accessed 19 Apr. 2023.
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
The final poem makes me think of your past creative pursuit of using fabric to collage portraits of buildings.
As you know, I am very sorry to be losing you as a local friend but I am excited for you to be embarking on this new phase of your life and in a new location too. Plus, of course, you are not going too far and we will be chatting back and forth online too.
It’s only about an hour away (as I tell everyone and myself too). Plus, there are many possibilities for meeting in between. And every day we will meet here on the blogs. I’m not leaving here! I hope in fact to be able to turn more attention to art and poetry in my new home.
An exciting time. I wish you all the best for your move and transition! Avuncular is a wonderful word…it’s one of those words I have heard I am sure but never knew what it meant.
Thank you. We are looking forward to the change. I think I first encountered the word avuncular in a Nancy Drew book where it was applied to a criminal, but I can’t be sure now. Anyway, now I always feel it has a slight tinge of sinister overtones, though it really doesn’t.
Avuncular is my favorite. (K)
The word itself has such an interesting shape, I think, never even thinking of its meaning, for me. I really like seeing the letter v in a word, for some reason.
I agree. Just the sound of it is wonderful.
Pace yourself, Claudia, chaos is endless! Best of luck to you as you move and adjust.
Thank you. We are on such a fast schedule which is good, really, but I’m looking forward to finishing the transactions and the move and then going into my new routines. The advice you give is very good, it is definitely a matter of pacing myself and getting enough rest at this point.