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


On 20 August in poetry and history

Poets born or who died on this date, plus historical events that happened on this day across history.

610 poets with calendar dates · 6,535 events with calendar dates in the catalogue

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2 birthdays · 2 death anniversaries · 5 world events on 20 August

Birthdays

Death anniversaries

World events on this day

  • 20 August 1153

    The Death of Bernard of Clairvaux and the Codification of Cistercian Spirituality

    Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, the towering intellectual, theologian, and primary architect of the Cistercian monastic reform, passed away at Clairvaux Abbey. Throughout his life, Bernard fiercely opposed scholastic intellectualism, championing instead a theology based on direct affective experience and emotional devotion to the humanity of Christ. His extensive series of sermons on the Song of Songs completely redefined medieval spirituality, emphasizing the mystical marriage between the human soul and the Divine Logos through absolute love.

    Event 1153

  • 20 August 1977

    Voyager Grand Tour

    Launched in 1977, NASA's Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes embarked on a grand tour of the outer solar system, exploiting a rare planetary alignment to fly past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. They returned the first detailed images of the outer planets and their moons, revealing landscapes of unearthly beauty. Voyager 1 has since become the most distant human-made object, inspiring poets to reflect on the scale of space and humanity's tiny place within it.

    Event 1977

  • 20 August 1968

    Prague Spring Crushed by Warsaw Pact Invasion

    The Prague Spring, a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during 1968, was crushed by a Soviet-led invasion on August 20. This military intervention aimed to suppress the reforms that sought to create 'socialism with a human face,' leading to widespread protests and resistance. The invasion had profound implications for Eastern Europe, reinforcing Soviet control and stifling aspirations for democratic governance in the region.

    Event 1968

  • 20 August 1988

    Ballygawley Bus Bombing

    On August 20, 1988, the Provisional IRA bombed a bus carrying British soldiers near Ballygawley, County Tyrone, killing eight soldiers and injuring 28. The bombing was one of the deadliest attacks on the British Army during the Troubles. The Ballygawley bus bombing was a significant military blow to the British Army, but it also led to calls for a renewed peace effort.

    Event 1988

  • 20 August 1910

    The Great Fire of 1910 Burns the Northern Rockies

    In 1910, huge wildfires burned across Idaho, Montana, Washington, and British Columbia. The fires destroyed towns, killed firefighters, and reshaped United States Forest Service policy for decades. They marked a turning point in ideas about suppression, wilderness, and the human management of forests.

    Event 1910
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