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 T

Talisman

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

An object, often inscribed with figures or characters, believed to possess magical or protective powers.

Detailed Definition
Talismans are used in various folk religious and esoteric practices, including Islam (using Qur'anic verses), Judaism (Hamsa), and paganism. They are charged objects meant to ward off evil, attract good fortune, or embody a specific spiritual force. In poetry, a talisman becomes a potent symbol of faith, memory, or a connection to the supernatural. It can represent a loved one's gift, a sacred word, or any object that serves as a focal point for spiritual energy and intention, bridging the visible and invisible worlds.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Islamic poetry, Talisman (ta’wiz) carries Quranic verses: “Inscribed paper—Talisman against evil eye and fear”; In Sufi verse, true Talisman is remembrance: “La ilaha illallah—Talisman that shields the heart”; In contemporary poetry, Talisman is memory: “Grandmother’s locket—Talisman holding her whispered prayers”; Poets caution against superstition: “Not magic—Talisman works only if faith animates it.”
Additional Notes
Talismans appear in many religious and folk traditions—from Islamic hijab amulets inscribed with Qur’anic verses to Jewish kameot and Hindu yantras—as objects believed to channel divine protection or blessing; while often viewed skeptically by orthodox authorities, talismans persist in devotional poetry as metaphors for faith’s tangible power or the desire for spiritual armor against chaos and evil.
Other Meanings of “Talisman”
Also Known As
Amulet Charm Gris-gris
Skip to main content