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.

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 O

On the fence

Idiomatic Phrase
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

An idiomatic phrase describing a person who remains neutral, hesitant, or undecided when faced with two opposing choices.

Detailed Definition
Visual metaphor—sitting astride a boundary. In poetry, it captures liminality, moral ambiguity, or suspended judgment. Dramatic monologues show speakers paralyzed by choice; political poems critique fence-sitters in crises. The precarious perch suggests discomfort—neither here nor there. Poets use it to explore identity fluidity or the courage required to commit. Its spatial clarity makes abstract indecision visible, ideal for works where neutrality itself becomes a stance with consequences, especially in polarized times.
Example
Example in poetry:
Voter’s dilemma: “On the fence—candidate A lies, B lacks spine”; Love crossroads: “On the fence—move cities for love or stay for career?”; Ethical quandary: “On the fence—report friend’s crime or protect loyalty?”; Climate action: “On the fence—go vegan or just reduce meat? Every choice weighs”.
Additional Notes
Visual metaphor—sitting astride a boundary. In poetry, it captures liminality, moral ambiguity, or suspended judgment. Dramatic monologues show speakers paralyzed by choice; political poems critique fence-sitters in crises. The precarious perch suggests discomfort—neither here nor there. Educators can use it to explore identity fluidity or the courage required to commit. Its spatial clarity makes abstract indecision visible, ideal for works where neutrality itself becomes a stance with consequences, especially in polarized times demanding ethical alignment.
Also Known As
Undecided Sitting on the fence
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