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

bodkin

Tools
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

A bodkin is a small pointed tool used for piercing fabric or leather, or a blunt needle used for threading tape or cord.

Detailed Definition
A bodkin has taken several forms, from a sharp awl-like implement to a broad, blunt needle for drawing ribbon, elastic, or cord through a hem or casing. Historically the word could also denote a hairpin or small dagger. Its literary resonance is therefore unusually rich: it may belong to sewing, dress, domestic work, ornament, or concealed violence. In poetry its slender point can suggest delicacy, secrecy, penetration, and the dangerous nearness of decorative and lethal objects.
Example
Example in poetry:
She drew the ribbon through the hem with a silver bodkin; In older poetry, a bodkin may suggest sewing, ornament, or a small concealed weapon; The bodkin's narrow point becomes an image of a sharp and persistent thought; A poet might contrast the delicacy of embroidery with the bodkin's power to pierce.
Additional Notes
A bodkin may be sharp enough to pierce fabric or leather, or blunt and broad enough to draw ribbon or cord through a casing. Historically, the word has also referred to a hairpin or small dagger, giving it useful ambiguity in older poetry. It can therefore belong to sewing, clothing, ornament, secrecy, or violence. Its narrow shape makes it suitable for metaphors of piercing thoughts and concealed danger. Related terms include awl, needle, stitching awl, pin, dagger, embroidery, threading, dress, penetration, delicacy, and domestic craft.
Other Meanings of “bodkin”
Also Known As
tape needle threading needle lacing needle
Skip to main content