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

brace

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 brace is a hand tool with a crank-shaped handle used to turn a drill bit and bore holes, especially in wood.

Detailed Definition
The carpenter's brace converts the circular movement of the hand and arm into steady torque at the bit, making controlled holes before the age of electric drills. It is often paired with the phrase brace and bit. In poetry the tool can evoke patient joinery, shipbuilding, household repair, or the intimate knowledge of a craftsperson's hands. Its turning action may symbolise repetition, concentration, and gradual penetration, while the word's other meanings, including support and steadiness, can create deliberate ambiguity.
Example
Example in poetry:
The carpenter leaned over the brace and bored holes for the wooden pegs; A brace may evoke patient, pre-electric craftsmanship in a workshop poem; Its circular motion can suggest thought returning repeatedly to the same memory; The brace turned slowly, translating the craftsman's strength into a precise opening.
Additional Notes
The brace is a hand-operated boring tool recognised by its crank-shaped handle, which gives the user greater torque than a simple hand drill. It often appears with the phrase brace and bit. In poetry it can signal careful, pre-electric craftsmanship, particularly in carpentry, shipbuilding, or furniture making. Its circular movement may suggest repetition, meditation, or thought gradually working into resistant material. Related terms include bit, auger, gimlet, drill, boring, carpenter, joinery, torque, rotation, patience, and traditional workshop practice.
Other Meanings of “brace”
Also Known As
brace and bit hand brace bit brace
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