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 B

Beat around the bush

Idiomatic Phrase
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

To avoid addressing the main issue directly, often by speaking vaguely or evasively.

Detailed Definition
Originating from hunting practices where beaters flushed game from bushes, this idiom critiques indirectness. In poetry, it often appears in satirical or confessional modes to expose hesitation, deceit, or social decorum that masks truth. Poets use it to build tension before revelation or to lament miscommunication in love and politics. Its kinetic origin lends it narrative potential, while its universal applicability makes it a versatile tool for exploring the gap between what is said and what is meant in human discourse.
Example
Example in poetry:
Frustrated lover: “Stop beating around the bush—say if you love me or let me go”; Political satire: “Diplomats beat around the bush while cities burn”; Writing advice: “Poetry thrives on precision—don’t beat around the bush with vague abstractions”; Confessional verse: “For years I beat around the bush of my queerness, until the truth burst through.”
Additional Notes
Originating from hunting (beaters flushing game), this idiom critiques indirectness. In poetry, it exposes hesitation, deceit, or social decorum masking truth. Shakespeare’s Polonius embodies it. Poets use it to build tension before revelation or lament miscommunication. Its kinetic origin lends narrative potential—e.g., “Stop beating around the bush; name the wound.” Students should note its contrast with “call a spade a spade” (directness). Related idioms include “talk around the issue” and “mince words.” In confessional poetry, it frames the struggle to articulate trauma; in satire, it mocks bureaucratic evasion.
Also Known As
Talk around the issue
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