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

Shiva

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 Hindu god of destruction and transformation, part of the Trimurti, associated with asceticism, dance, and regeneration.

Detailed Definition
Shiva embodies paradox: destroyer yet regenerator, ascetic yet householder, fearsome yet benevolent. Central to Shaivism, he appears in poetry as Nataraja (cosmic dancer), Ardhanarishvara (half-male, half-female), and the meditating yogi on Mount Kailash. His role in dissolving the universe makes him a potent symbol of impermanence and renewal. In literary traditions from the Tamil Tevaram hymns to Kalidasa’s works, Shiva represents the transcendence of dualities and the power of inner stillness. Poets invoke him to explore themes of mortality, ecstasy, detachment, and the transformative potential of suffering and grace.
Example
Example in poetry:
In a bhakti poem, Shiva is “the ash-smeared dancer whose stillness holds the cosmos”; A modern verse: “Shiva’s third eye isn’t myth—it’s the clarity that burns illusion”; A minimalist haiku: “Crescent moon glows—/ Shiva’s matted locks cradle / Ganga’s wild song”; A diasporic reflection: “In Brooklyn, I chant ‘Om Namah Shivaya’—and feel the Himalayas in my bones.”
Additional Notes
Shiva, "the Auspicious One," is a complex deity in Hinduism, a part of the Trimurti (trinity) with Brahma and Vishnu. He is the destroyer, but this destruction is necessary for regeneration and transformation. He is also the supreme ascetic (Yogi) and the lord of dance (Nataraja), whose cosmic dance creates, preserves, and destroys the universe. For poets, Shiva embodies paradox: fierce destroyer and compassionate benefactor, cosmic lord and simple ascetic, representing the cyclical nature of existence and transcendent consciousness.
Also Known As
Siva Mahadeva Nataraja Shankara Rudra
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