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 M

Minaret

World Religion
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 tall tower attached to a mosque, traditionally used by the muezzin to call the faithful to prayer (adhan).

Detailed Definition
Minarets punctuate skylines from Istanbul to Jakarta, serving both functional and symbolic roles. Though modern amplification has reduced their practical use, they remain iconic emblems of Islamic architecture and spiritual summons. In poetry, the minaret represents vertical aspiration—the soul’s reach toward heaven—and the voice of divine invitation echoing across time and space. Poets liken it to a candle, a pen, or a sentinel, using its height and solitude to explore themes of vigilance, proclamation, and the bridge between earth and sky.
Example
Example in poetry:
A city poem: “The minaret is not tower—it’s the throat of the neighborhood calling to prayer”; In a refugee verse, “No minaret here—but my father’s voice becomes one at dawn”; A minimalist lyric: “Minaret: architecture of invitation”; A modern reflection: “In Istanbul, minarets pierce sky; in Iowa, they pierce silence.”
Additional Notes
A Minaret is a tall, slender tower, typically part of a mosque. Historically, it was from the minaret's balcony (called a sherefe) that the Muezzin would issue the call to prayer (Adhan). While modern loudspeakers have largely replaced this function, the minaret remains a powerful architectural symbol of Islam's presence, pointing towards the heavens and calling the community to remembrance of God.
Other Meanings of “Minaret”
Also Known As
Minar Manara Tower
Skip to main content