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



Satori

Folklore
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 Japanese yōkai depicted as a mountain-dwelling monkey capable of reading minds, often appearing in cautionary folk tales.

Detailed Definition
Satori know thoughts but can be outwitted by blank minds. In poetry, they embody the invasion of privacy, the danger of self-awareness, and the uncanny intelligence of nature, often appearing in psychological or surreal verse.
Example
Example in poetry:
Satori, the mind-reading monkey spirit, appears in introspective poetry: "Satori knows your secret thought—speaks it back in mocking tone"; Poets use it to explore self-awareness: "In mountain mist, Satori waits—mirroring your hidden shame"; In cautionary verse, it punishes deceit: "Lie to friends, and Satori laughs—your falsehoods echo in the pines"; Its psychic power inspires vulnerability: "No mask works on Satori—truth is all he sees and sings"
Additional Notes
Satori: A mind-reading mountain spirit in Japanese folklore, appearing as a monkey-like creature that echoes thoughts to unnerve travelers. In poetry, it embodies the terror of exposure, the fragility of privacy, and the wilderness as psychological mirror. Rare in classical texts but potent in modern horror; useful in minimalist or introspective verse exploring self-consciousness and the uncanny. Contrast with benevolent nature spirits like Zashiki-warashi.
Also Known As
Satori (mind-reader yōkai) Mountain spirit Awakening
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