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 P

porpoise

Fauna
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 porpoise is a small, robust, toothed whale with a rounded snout, less acrobatic than the dolphin, often symbolizing shyness, coastal proximity, and quiet persistence.

Detailed Definition
The porpoise, with its smaller size and more reticent behavior, appears in poetry as a humble cousin to the dolphin, representing the understated and the everyday marvels of the shoreline. Its regular, rhythmic breathing and close-to-shore habits make it a symbol of domesticity and constancy within the marine world. Poets might use the porpoise to suggest quiet observation, the steady pulse of tidal life, or the modest beauty that does not seek attention, gliding just beneath the surface of the gray, northern seas.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poem describes porpoises: "Porpoises dance for as long as they live".; Another writes, "On sunbright days the porpoises lift like birds over the water".; The porpoise can symbolize shyness and coastal life.; Its leaping represents joy.; The animal's role in the marine ecosystem is noted.
Additional Notes
The porpoise, often confused with the dolphin, appears in poetry as a more reserved, shy creature, representing the modest, everyday beauties of the coastal margin. Its smaller, more robust body and lack of the dolphin's acrobatic displays make it a symbol for quiet persistence and the unassuming presence of life near the shore. Poets often use the porpoise to evoke the rhythm of the tides, the gray, cold waters of northern seas, and the humble grace of a creature that does not seek attention. When writing, consider the porpoise's role as a counterpoint to the dolphin—less glamorous, less celebrated, but no less worthy of observation and care.
Also Known As
small cetacean playful swimmer harbor acrobat
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