“Mind the Gap”
I glimpse
within each face
riding on the metro,
an occulted star between stops—
Sonder
“Used Bookstore in Maadi, Egypt ~ Vellichor”
Amidst the food stalls, taxis, and dust
jagged stacks of strange and wonted
books parched in the open air:
dog-eared primers for maths,
stranded tomes and maps,
pale paperbacks;
all begging—
take me
home.
“Chrysalism”
Dark clouds
Sparks of lightning
Raindrops pitter-patter
Wind wailing outside my high-rise
Unruly hail pelting the windowpanes
From my perch I survey the storm,
Like a lighthouse keeper
Snug in shelter—
Dark clouds…
– March 25, 2026
Emotions
All words sourced from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig.
- Sonder: The awareness that everyone has a story.
- Vellichor: The strange wistfulness of used bookstores, which are somehow infused with the passage of time—filled with thousands of old books you’ll never have time to read.
- Chrysalism: The amniotic tranquility of being indoors during a thunderstorm.
Forms
- Cinquain: A five-line, unrhymed poem structured by syllable count (2-4-6-8-2), developed by Adelaide Crapsey (1878–1914).
- Nonet: A nine-line poem with syllable counts decreasing from nine to one (9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1).
- Rictameter: A nine-line, syllabic poem with a diamond-shaped structure (2-4-6-8-10-8-6-4-2), often opening and closing with the same two-syllable word or phrase.
opusculum 