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

Salem

Biblical
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 ancient name for Jerusalem, associated with Melchizedek, king and priest of God Most High.

Detailed Definition
Salem (Genesis 14; Psalm 76) means “peace” and prefigures Jerusalem’s sacred role. In poetry, it symbolizes primordial holiness, the unity of kingship and priesthood, and the eternal city as a place of divine encounter and blessing.
Example
Example in poetry:
Salem—ancient name for Jerusalem (Psalm 76:2)—fuels peace poetry: “Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought bread and wine—type of Christ”; A modern poem: “My Salem is the city where justice and peace kiss”; In a sonnet on typology: “Salem means ‘peace’—and only Christ fulfills her name”; Liturgical verse: “Blessed Salem, foreshadow of the New Jerusalem.”
Additional Notes
Salem (Genesis 14:18; Psalm 76:2) is traditionally identified with Jerusalem and linked to Melchizedek, “king of Salem” and “priest of God Most High,” who blessed Abraham. The name means “peace,” prefiguring Jerusalem’s eschatological role (Isaiah 2:4). In Hebrews 7, Melchizedek becomes a Christological type. In poetry, Salem symbolizes primordial peace, priestly kingship, and the sacred city as a nexus of blessing—ideal for meditations on origins, divine order, and the city as both historical place and theological ideal.
Also Known As
Jerusalem (in poetic context) Shalem Jerusalem
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