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



Dzonokwa

Mythology
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

In Kwakwaka’wakw myth, Dzonokwa is a fearsome wild woman of the woods who steals children but also bestows wealth and power.

Detailed Definition
Dzonokwa is a fearsome, giantess forest spirit in Kwakwaka’wakw myth who steals children but also bestows wealth and power to those who outwit her. She embodies wilderness, danger, and potential. In ceremonial masks and stories, she represents the untamed feminine. Poets invoke Dzonokwa to explore themes of fear, transformation, and the dual nature of the wild as both threatening and generative.
Example
Example in poetry:
Dzonokwa, the Kwakwaka’wakw wild woman, stomps through poems as the untamed force that steals disobedient children; A cautionary verse shows Dzonokwa’s basket filled not with kids but with forgotten songs; Poets use Dzonokwa to reclaim “wildness” as sacred feminine power; In feminist poetry, she embodies the rage of stolen generations; Her mossy hair becomes a symbol of forest memory in climate verse.
Additional Notes
Dzonokwa (or Dzunukwa) is a giantess in Kwakwaka’wakw mythology who steals children but also bestows wealth and power; she embodies the duality of danger and blessing—often depicted with wild hair and a deep call, Dzonokwa appears in potlatch regalia; poets should respect her ceremonial significance and avoid portraying her as a mere monster.
Also Known As
Dzunukwa Tsonoqua
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