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 C

Colonel

Military
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 colonel is a senior military officer who typically commands a regiment, ranking above major and below general.

Detailed Definition
The colonel appears in poetry as a figure of mid-level command, often embodying the bureaucratic and hierarchical structures of military life. Poets use colonels to explore the distance between decision-makers and the soldiers who bear the consequences of their orders. The rank carries connotations of experience and authority, sometimes rendered with irony when contrasted against the suffering of common soldiers under a colonel's command.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poem might depict a colonel issuing orders from behind the lines while soldiers face direct danger; Poets use "colonel" to explore the hierarchical distance between senior officers and common troops; A verse could contrast the colonel's polished uniform with the mud and blood of frontline soldiers; The term appears in satirical war poetry critiquing officers detached from battlefield suffering; A poem might portray a colonel haunted by decisions that cost his regiment dearly; Historical poetry sometimes humanizes colonels by depicting their private doubts beneath public authority.
Additional Notes
A colonel is a senior military officer who typically commands a regiment, ranking above major and below general. The colonel has historically been the officer who personally leads troops into battle, bridging the gap between staff planning and frontline action. In many armies, colonels serve as chiefs of staff, instructors, or commanders of training units. The term derives from "column commander" in the sixteenth century. In poetry, the colonel often represents the authoritative, sometimes distant figure of command—the voice that gives orders and bears responsibility. The famous poem "The Colonel" by Carolyn Forché captures the arbitrary power of military authority. Related terms include captain, major, and general. The lieutenant colonel serves as a senior staff officer or battalion commander.
Also Known As
Col. Regimental Commander Field Officer Senior Officer Bird Colonel (slang)
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