A quiet notice V2Melody closes at midnight on , Spanish time.

Closes

A note from Richard

V2Melody will close at midnight on 20 January 2028

This site has been a retirement project in musical poetry: poems chosen with care and set to music, offered freely for as long as it felt right to keep the garden open.

The work no longer holds the place it once did in my life. I have gone as far with it as I wish to go. Like a sand mandala, it was made to be completed and then released. I am not attached to its permanence, and I do not believe any of it needs to last beyond the time it was given. The poems were already here before I arrived and began to experiment with them. They will still be here when these musical experiments, and indeed myself, have been swept away, like the sand of a mandala. Nothing has been lost.

I want a simpler end to my life, days of simple love and enjoyment with my wonderful wife of 20 years. The work of maintaining a server, the monitoring, and the residual obligations that come with keeping a site alive no longer fit that life.

From 4 November 2026 I will not be adding new poems or musical poems to the site.

The experimental music I am making now is on my Suno profile. Those pieces stay there, and are not added to this site.

Until midnight on 20 January 2028, Spanish time, everything remains available exactly as it is. That is when my VPS server contract comes to an end, and it will not be renewed. After that, the server will be switched off and the site will disappear.

The Mandala Is Finished explains this more fully.

Thank you to anyone who found a poem, a track, or a quiet moment here.

The pleasure was in the making.

Richard

Home › Glossary › Letter A

amicus curiae

Latin Phrases
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Friend of the court; someone who offers information to assist a court in making a decision.

Detailed Definition
Amicus curiae, "friend of the court," describes one who provides information to assist judicial decision-making without being party to the case. In poetry, this legal phrase appears metaphorically, suggesting the poet's role as impartial witness, informed observer, or helpful guide through complex moral terrain. Poets employ it when positioning themselves as neither advocate nor judge but as someone offering context, evidence, or perspective to help readers reach their own conclusions. The phrase suggests both distance and engagement, expertise without partisanship. It appears in poems addressing ethical dilemmas, historical events, or social conflicts where the speaker provides illumination without demanding allegiance.
Example
Example in poetry:
A political poem might position the poet as "amicus curiae to history, offering evidence without taking sides"; Contemporary verse uses the phrase when the speaker claims neither advocacy nor judgment but provision of context; A poem about witness might describe the role as "amicus curiae to this marriage, friend observing but not party"; Poets writing about social conflicts employ "amicus curiae" to signal they provide perspective without demanding allegiance; A metapoetic reflection might describe poetry itself as "amicus curiae to experience, offering interpretation to help readers judge"; Verse about ethical dilemmas uses the phrase when the speaker illuminates without prescribing: "I come as amicus curiae, not to tell you what to think but to show you what I see"
Additional Notes
Amicus curiae originally described parties who assist courts by providing information without being litigants. Poets use the phrase metaphorically when positioning themselves as informed observers rather than participants—witnesses who clarify but don't adjudicate. The stance claims both expertise and neutrality, though such neutrality is often questioned: can anyone truly be friend-to-the-court without serving particular interests? Related to questions about poetry's social function: does the poet judge, advocate, or merely illuminate? The phrase is particularly useful for understanding political poetry that seeks to inform without propagandizing, though critics might argue such disinterested observation is itself ideological. The concept connects to debates about aesthetic autonomy versus engagement, objectivity versus partiality.
Other Meanings of “amicus curiae”
Also Known As
friend of the court
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