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

buoy

Nautical
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 floating object anchored in the water, used as a navigational marker or warning.

Detailed Definition
The buoy is the sea's signpost, a small, often brightly colored float that bobs with the waves, marking channels, shoals, and wrecks. In poetry, it symbolizes guidance, warning, and the modest but essential signals that prevent catastrophe. The buoy's constant motion, always anchored but never still, mirrors human uncertainty, yet its persistence offers a dependable reference. Poets use the buoy to evoke the lonely witness, the faithful messenger, and the silent, stoic presence that endures storms and tides. Its bell or light, if so equipped, becomes a sensory symbol of hope and attention.
Example
Example in poetry:
“At the gateway of the bay, on the currents that come and go, the bell-buoy heaves and swings” (John Townsend Trowbridge).; “All hours I hear the whistling-buoy across the long tides cry” (from a lighthouse poem).; “The buoy sits barnacled and seaweed strewn … a caged bell beyond the harbour wall” (Alan S. Austin).; The buoy in poetry symbolizes the faithful messenger, the modest marker that prevents catastrophe.; A poet might use the buoy to represent a small but essential point of reference in a vast, uncertain world.; The buoy’s constant motion, always anchored but never still, mirrors human uncertainty and persistence.
Additional Notes
The buoy is a modest but essential navigational marker, an anchored float that bobs with the waves yet remains in place. In poetry, it symbolizes faithfulness, the quiet guidance of a reliable presence, and the small, unyielding points of reference in a shifting world. Its constant motion—always moving yet always fixed—mirrors the human condition of seeking stability amidst flux. The sound of a bell buoy, ringing with the motion of the sea, is a particularly evocative poetic device, representing a voice that cries out in the wilderness of the water, warning and guiding. Poets use buoys to discuss the importance of perspective, the humble signal that can prevent disaster, and the loyalty of objects and people that remain steadfast, offering a point of orientation even when all else is obscured by fog or storm.
Also Known As
Mooring buoy navigation buoy dan buoy bell buoy spar buoy
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