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

Sinister

Heraldic Terms
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

In heraldry, "sinister" denotes the left side of the shield from the bearer’s perspective (viewer’s right), not inherently evil.

Detailed Definition
Suggesting or indicating harm, danger, or malevolence; having an alarming or foreboding quality that implies wickedness or ill intent.
Example
Example in poetry:
A sinister shadow stretched across the moonlit path, whispering forgotten names; The raven’s cry held a sinister note, echoing through the hollow trees; Behind the smile, a sinister intent coiled like smoke in still air; Fog rolled in with a sinister hush, swallowing the village whole; The clock struck thirteen—a sinister omen in the dead of night; Her laughter rang too bright, carrying a sinister edge beneath its charm.
Additional Notes
"Sinister" as an adjective in poetry often conveys more than mere evil—it suggests an atmospheric dread, hidden menace, or psychological unease. Its Latin origin ("sinister" = "left") reflects ancient cultural biases that associated the left side with bad omens, a nuance that occasionally surfaces in symbolic or mythic poetry. In contemporary verse, "sinister" is frequently used to describe settings (e.g., "sinister alleyways"), sounds ("a sinister whisper"), or ambiguous intentions ("a sinister smile"). Poets should use it judiciously: its potency lies in implication rather than explicit horror. Overuse can flatten its impact. For greater subtlety, consider context-driven alternatives like "ominous," "foreboding," or "uncanny." Notably, "sinister" pairs powerfully with sensory imagery—especially auditory or visual—to evoke mood without stating emotion directly. Its contrast with "dexter" (both etymologically and thematically) also offers rich opportunities for exploring binary oppositions in poetic structure or character.
Also Known As
ominous foreboding menacing threatening malevolent dark eerie Donsie baleful
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