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 Z

Zappai

Form
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 three-line poem with 5-7-5 syllable structure but not adhering to haiku’s seasonal or cutting rules

Detailed Definition
Zappai is a humorous or satirical Japanese poetic form that superficially resembles haiku (three lines, 5-7-5 syllables) but lacks the traditional haiku’s seasonal reference (kigo) and cutting word (kireji), and often prioritizes wit, wordplay, or absurdity over contemplative depth. While not part of classical Japanese poetics, zappai became popular in modern times as a light verse form, especially in newspapers and casual settings. In English, "zappai" is sometimes used to describe any pseudo-haiku that follows the syllable count but misses the spirit of the form. For students, zappai serves as a cautionary example of the difference between formal mimicry and authentic engagement with a poetic tradition, while also celebrating the playful adaptability of poetic forms.
Example
Example in poetry:
Zappai: Humorous 5-7-5 poems without seasonal reference; “My cat stares at walls / Believing they hold secrets / From his tuna stash”; Zappai parody haiku seriousness; Popular in internet meme culture
Additional Notes
Playful, impromptu haiku lacking seasonal reference (kigo). Contrasts with formal haiku. Japanese form. More casual than senryu. Focuses on wordplay or spontaneous observation without deep meaning.
Also Known As
non-seasonal 5-7-5 haiku-like verse
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