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 K

Ka

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

The vital essence or life force that departs at death but can be sustained in the afterlife

Detailed Definition
The Ka, born with the individual, required offerings of food and drink to survive. It was depicted as two upraised arms. In poetry, it symbolizes the animating spark, the need for remembrance, and the bond between the living and dead—frequently used in funerary or ancestral verse on sustenance and continuity.
Example
Example in poetry:
A spiritual verse: "The Ka departs at death but lingers near its statue and offerings"; In introspective poetry: "My Ka mirrors me—eternal twin, silent witness"; Another line: "Bread and beer sustain the Ka in its shadowy sojourn"; A symbolic use: "In dreams, my Ka walks the fields of Iaru, sowing stars"; In lyrical form: "The Ka is born with me, dies with me, yet never truly dies"; A reflective poem: "Guard the tomb well—without offerings, the Ka starves in eternity".
Additional Notes
Ka is the life force or vital essence that departs at death but remains near the body; it requires offerings to survive in the afterlife—unlike the Ba, the Ka is static and double-like—poets can use Ka to explore duality, sustenance beyond death, or the invisible presence that lingers in tombs and memory.
Also Known As
Ka spirit Vital Essence
Skip to main content