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

Kingfisher

Birds
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 brilliantly colored bird associated with calm waters and mythic serenity.

Detailed Definition
The kingfisher’s iridescent plumage and tranquil river habitats link it to peace, transformation, and the halcyon days of Greek myth—when winds stilled for its nesting. Poets use it to symbolize fleeting beauty, hope after storm, or artistic inspiration drawn from stillness. Its rarity and vividness make it a metaphor for moments of clarity or epiphany amidst life’s turbulence.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Greek myth retold in poetry, the kingfisher (halcyon) calms the sea for its nesting, symbolizing peace after storm; Seamus Heaney references the kingfisher’s “electric blue” as a moment of epiphany in gray landscapes; Poets use the kingfisher’s river habitat to evoke stillness, clarity, and reflection; Its rarity makes it a metaphor for fleeting joy or artistic inspiration; The kingfisher’s dive becomes a symbol of plunging into truth or creativity.
Additional Notes
The kingfisher, with iridescent blue-green plumage, is tied to the Greek myth of Alcyone, whose transformation calmed the seas (“halcyon days”). In poetry, it symbolizes peace after storm, fleeting beauty, and artistic epiphany. Seamus Heaney and others use it as a moment of clarity in gray landscapes. Related terms: “river sentinel,” “halcyon bird,” “flash of insight.” Its rarity and habitat specificity make it ideal for ecopoetic reflections on water health and stillness.
Also Known As
Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis River Kingfisher Halcyon
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