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 D

Dust Devil

Weather
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 small, localized whirlwind that forms on sunny, dry, and clear days; it consists of a rapidly rotating column of wind that picks up dust, sand, and debris, making it visible.

Detailed Definition
A dust devil is a narrow spinning vortex that forms over hot, dry ground, lifting dust, leaves, sand, and light debris into the air. Smaller and usually weaker than a tornado, it can nevertheless appear sudden, lively, and uncanny. Poets may use a dust devil as an image of fleeting disorder, childhood wonder, or a restless spirit crossing an empty landscape. Its brief dance makes it ideal for poems about transience and motion.
Example
Example in poetry:
A dust devil lifted one receipt from the parking lot and made it dance above the weeds; Use dust devil for a small, rotating column of dust, distinct from a large destructive tornado; The child chased the dust devil until it vanished, leaving only grit in her eyelashes; A poet may use a dust devil as an image of brief mischief, restless heat, or an argument that swirls up and disappears
Additional Notes
A dust devil is smaller and usually less destructive than a tornado, forming when warm air begins to spin near the ground. It can evoke dry weather, restlessness, playfulness, or a brief burst of wild motion.
Also Known As
Dust Whirl Whirlwind Sand Devil
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