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

Stigmata

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 appearance of bodily wounds, scars, and pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ, believed to be a supernatural sign of sanctity.

Detailed Definition
Stigmata are primarily a Catholic mystical phenomenon, associated with saints like St. Francis of Assisi, and are seen as a profound identification with the suffering of Christ. In poetry, stigmata symbolize extreme empathy, the physical manifestation of spiritual suffering, and the concept of bearing the wounds of the world. It is a powerful, visceral image for exploring themes of imitation of Christ, the intersection of physical and spiritual pain, redemptive suffering, and the mysterious ways grace can mark the human body.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Catholic poetry, Stigmata marks mystical union: “Francis’ hands—Stigmata, love’s wounds mirrored”; In contemporary verse, Stigmata is empathy: “Nurse’s scars—Stigmata from holding dying hands”; In mystical poetry, Stigmata is identification: “Bear others’ pain—Stigmata of compassion”; Poets use Stigmata metaphorically: “Activist’s bruises—Stigmata of justice work.”
Additional Notes
Stigmata—first reported in Francis of Assisi—manifest Christ’s wounds on devotees’ bodies; they signify mystical identification with Christ’s suffering; in poetry, stigmata symbolize empathy so deep it becomes physical, or the cost of love that bears others’ pain, transforming suffering into sacred witness.
Also Known As
Sacred Wounds Stigmatic Marks Wound
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