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 S

Safar

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

The second month of the Islamic lunar calendar, historically associated with travel and sometimes superstition, though Islam discourages such beliefs.

Detailed Definition
Safar follows Muharram and was once deemed inauspicious by pre-Islamic Arabs. The Prophet rejected these superstitions, affirming that all months belong to God. In poetry, Safar occasionally appears as a symbol of transition or uncertainty—but more often, poets use it to critique baseless fears, emphasizing trust in divine decree over omens. Its name (“void” or “whistling wind”) lends itself to imagery of journeys and empty spaces awaiting meaning.
Example
Example in poetry:
A travel poem: “Safar is not journey—it’s the space where old selves shed skin”; In a modern verse, “Hajj is the ultimate safar—geography as transformation”; A minimalist reflection: “Safar: movement with meaning”; A diasporic lyric: “My immigration was safar—leaving land, finding soul.”
Additional Notes
Safar is the second month of the Islamic lunar calendar. In pre-Islamic Arabia, it was associated with travel and superstitions of ill luck. Islam abolished superstitious beliefs, and the month holds no inherent negative or positive value. For most Muslims, it is a normal month, though some historical events, like the Prophet's final illness, occurred during it. It serves as a reminder to place trust in God, not omens.
Also Known As
Safar (Islamic month) Second Month (of Hijri calendar)
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