WINTER (Palindrome) We noted a froth — gilded, iced too.... Mists or fleets dip mildness. Won, snows send limpid, steel frosts. I moot decided light — or fade to new.

WORD FACT "Panis", the Latin word for bread, gives us the word "pantry" — our "bread room". It also gives us "companion". Com + panion = with + bread. A companion is somebody with whom you share bread.

WINTER (Palindrome) We noted a froth — gilded, iced too.... Mists or fleets dip mildness. Won, snows send limpid, steel frosts. I moot decided light — or fade to new.

WORD FACT "Panis", the Latin word for bread, gives us the word "pantry" — our "bread room". It also gives us "companion". Com + panion = with + bread. A companion is somebody with whom you share bread.

SNOWFALL (Anagrammed Lines) Winter wails lavish frost: Snowfall arrives, with its faint silver. Slow wraiths flow in salt rivers. What is final swirls over its thaw.

WORD FACT In Middle English, the suffix -ster sometimes marked that a role was being performed by a woman. A female brewer was a brewster. A female webber (weaver) was a webster. A female baker was a baxter (via bakster). [1/2]

WORD FACT In Middle English, the suffix -ster sometimes marked that a role was being performed by a woman. A female brewer was a brewster. A female webber (weaver) was a webster. A female baker was a baxter (via bakster). [1/2]

SNOWFALL (Anagrammed Lines) Winter wails lavish frost: Snowfall arrives, with its faint silver. Slow wraiths flow in salt rivers. What is final swirls over its thaw.

TIME (Palindrome by Word) Time keeps forever. It grows us in light. The unfurling days see shadows turn. In turn, shadows see days unfurling. The light in us grows. It forever keeps time.

WORD FACT Some trivia… The Latin word for a road or pathway was “via”. This is the source of our preposition via, meaning “by way of”. A place where three roads met was a “trivium” (tri meaning “three”, and -vium being a derived form of via). [1/2]

WORD FACT Some trivia… The Latin word for a road or pathway was “via”. This is the source of our preposition via, meaning “by way of”. A place where three roads met was a “trivium” (tri meaning “three”, and -vium being a derived form of via). [1/2]

TIME (Palindrome by Word) Time keeps forever. It grows us in light. The unfurling days see shadows turn. In turn, shadows see days unfurling. The light in us grows. It forever keeps time.

TIME GROWS OLD (Palindrome) Sun up, still.... A sun I saw. Time grew old. A sad, lower gem, it was in us all — It spun us.

Aurora

TIME GROWS OLD (Palindrome) Sun up, still.... A sun I saw. Time grew old. A sad, lower gem, it was in us all — It spun us.

Aurora

ARROW OF TIME (Sonnet)

ARROW OF TIME (Sonnet)

THE COMET, AT MIDNIGHT (Sonnet)

FATE OF THE ARTS, Episode 2 As promised in Episode 1, this is a reupload of my 2022 conversation with @janeespenson.bsky.social. Topics include: wordplay, metaphor, sound symbolism, literary constraints, ‘Buffy speak’, and more Buffy.... Listen here: anthonyetherin.substack.com/p/fate-of-th...

I have not left, nor have I stayed. The Otherworld has taken me. I’ve slipped between the cracks we made; I have not left, nor have I stayed. Someday, you’ll find me in the glade— we'll meet beneath the knotted tree. I have not left nor have I stayed. The Otherworld has taken me.

WORD FACT Muscles are little mice — Latin "musculus" (the diminutive of "mūs", meaning “mouse”). The idea was that muscles looked like small mice wriggling under the skin.

FATE OF THE ARTS, Episode 2 As promised in Episode 1, this is a reupload of my 2022 conversation with @janeespenson.bsky.social. Topics include: wordplay, metaphor, sound symbolism, literary constraints, ‘Buffy speak’, and more Buffy.... Listen here: anthonyetherin.substack.com/p/fate-of-th...

WORD FACT Muscles are little mice — Latin "musculus" (the diminutive of "mūs", meaning “mouse”). The idea was that muscles looked like small mice wriggling under the skin.

I have not left, nor have I stayed. The Otherworld has taken me. I’ve slipped between the cracks we made; I have not left, nor have I stayed. Someday, you’ll find me in the glade— we'll meet beneath the knotted tree. I have not left nor have I stayed. The Otherworld has taken me.

WORD FACT "Candidate" ultimately comes from the Latin "candidus"—meaning white, shining, & pure. It shares a root with "candle". Roman candidates wore bleached togas so that their dazzling white clothing could stand as a symbol of their purity & honesty. Politicians tell similar lies to this day.

WORD FACT "Candidate" ultimately comes from the Latin "candidus"—meaning white, shining, & pure. It shares a root with "candle". Roman candidates wore bleached togas so that their dazzling white clothing could stand as a symbol of their purity & honesty. Politicians tell similar lies to this day.

THE COMET, AT MIDNIGHT (Sonnet)

EVIL (Palindrome) Evil: All its mist is time gone. No gem, it sits... "I'm still alive!"

WORD FACT Why you find “pupils” in the classroom, but also in your eyes: The Latin word pūpus means “child". One variant of this word is pūpillus — literally an orphaned child or ward. From this we get pupil in the sense of a young student. [1/2]

WORD FACT Why you find “pupils” in the classroom, but also in your eyes: The Latin word pūpus means “child". One variant of this word is pūpillus — literally an orphaned child or ward. From this we get pupil in the sense of a young student. [1/2]

EVIL (Palindrome) Evil: All its mist is time gone. No gem, it sits... "I'm still alive!"

THE LITERATURE OF STARS (Villanelle)

THE LITERATURE OF STARS (Villanelle)

WORD FACT NEITHERLOWERCASELETTERSNORWORDSPACINGWEREUSEDINCLASSICALGREEKANDLATINWRITINGANDREADERSWEREEXPECTEDTOPARSEWORDSUSINGCONTEXTALONE

WORD FACT NEITHERLOWERCASELETTERSNORWORDSPACINGWEREUSEDINCLASSICALGREEKANDLATINWRITINGANDREADERSWEREEXPECTEDTOPARSEWORDSUSINGCONTEXTALONE

MERGING (Anagrammed Lines) More winter seedlings — more needless writing; entire worlds seeming to merge in wilderness....

WORD FACT The changing meaning of the word “nice”… Origin: Latin “nescius” — ne (meaning “not”) scire (meaning “to know” — the root of science & omniscient). Nice = stupid. This meaning carried into Old French “nice”. [1/3]

WORD FACT The changing meaning of the word “nice”… Origin: Latin “nescius” — ne (meaning “not”) scire (meaning “to know” — the root of science & omniscient). Nice = stupid. This meaning carried into Old French “nice”. [1/3]

MERGING (Anagrammed Lines) More winter seedlings — more needless writing; entire worlds seeming to merge in wilderness....

COLOURSCAPE: An ottava rima in iambic pentameter, intersected by a sonnet in iambic monometer — such that the third foot of each line of the ottava rima belongs also to the sonnet.

New Podcast! FATE OF THE ARTS, Episode 1 I had a great time chatting with my friend @janeespenson.bsky.social about the ways new media and streaming have changed TV writing — and about the innovations set to shape the future of television. Listen here: anthonyetherin.substack.com/p/fate-of-th...

WORD FACT The word “syzygy”—meaning an alignment of celestial bodies—ultimately comes from the Greek “syn-” (συν-) meaning “together” & “zygon” (ζυγόν) meaning yoke or pair. It is thus related to other words of “union” via both its prefix & its root: synapse, syntax, & syndicate, but also zygote.

WORD FACT The word “syzygy”—meaning an alignment of celestial bodies—ultimately comes from the Greek “syn-” (συν-) meaning “together” & “zygon” (ζυγόν) meaning yoke or pair. It is thus related to other words of “union” via both its prefix & its root: synapse, syntax, & syndicate, but also zygote.

COLOURSCAPE: An ottava rima in iambic pentameter, intersected by a sonnet in iambic monometer — such that the third foot of each line of the ottava rima belongs also to the sonnet.

Till the end of the weekend, my poetry collection THE ROBOTS OF BABYLON is 40% off (along with all other books from Penteract Press). Use the discount code PENULTIMATE at checkout: penteractpress.com/store/the-ro...

I'm on a podcast! Brilliant poet @anthonyetherin.bsky.social and I talk the TV biz and I rant a bit! Is it informed ranting? SOMETIMES!

New Podcast! FATE OF THE ARTS, Episode 1 I had a great time chatting with my friend @janeespenson.bsky.social about the ways new media and streaming have changed TV writing — and about the innovations set to shape the future of television. Listen here: anthonyetherin.substack.com/p/fate-of-th...

Wow! 100 downloads already. Thanks for listening!