Part B: The A-Z of Unusual Words

Thank you to everyone who commented and sent an entry to part A of the challenge. I will be announcing winners next week.

If anyone missed the introduction and instructions, you can read the full details here.

Briefly, the contest works like this.

1. Choose a word that is not in common usage that begins with the letter of the week. Start with the word and your definition of it. (Definitions can be official or your own take on it). If you need an unusual word, here is a great website.

2. Explain your connection to the word- either how you use it in your life or what it evokes for you.

3. Write a poem or short story of up to 100-125 words (give or take) that evokes the themes in your word.

4. Be sure to mention (a link would be appreciated) this contest.

5. Put a link to your work in the comments below before the deadline.

Letter B will run two weeks from late September 17 to October 1.

I will be posting letter C and putting an update here when the contest closes. The in-between weeks will be used for announcing winners from the previous contest.

Too late? No worries. After 26 letters, I want to do some final contest related to the bodies of work. There will be a bonus category for anyone who manages to get 26 entries in before that challenge closes. Just drop your late entry in the comments and it will still count for that final event.

How I judge:

Two prizes will be awarded by tip during the week after the contest closes. A $1 best word prize will go to someone with a great word and a great explanation of your connection to it.

The second $1 prize will be for your poem or story. I love beautiful writing (though the topic doesn't have to be beautiful or happy). I am also looking for a clear connection to the themes that your word evokes.

Nobody will get both prizes for the same letter (unless only one person enters).

My Example:

As I mentioned in the past, I am a scientist. I love the precision that science words offer. I also love finding themes in these words that speak to our humanity. This word fits both categories:

Bathymetry (From Wikipedia)

"Bathymetry (/bəˈθɪmətri/; from Ancient Greek βαθύς (bathús) 'deep' and μέτρον (métron) 'measure') is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors (seabed topography), lake floors, or river floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of water depth measurements are from Ancient Egypt over 3000 years ago."

What it means to me: I have spent most of my life near water. It fascinates me to see something that can be mirrorlike on the surface while full of caverns and activity below. The ability to use science to see past the surface is something that gives me great comfort. As a child who had a hard time reading people, I would have given anything to have a similar technology for understanding the thoughts and motivations of the people around me.

I also love that the technology was created by learning from nature. The sonar used to map seafloors is the same concept that bats and whales use to navigate the world around them. It still astounds me that we can do so much with an echo.

My poem:

Bathymetry

You do not speak

to me anymore.

I navigate homeward to

a placid, smooth expression.

The complaints ended months ago,

but so did the compliments.

My future was once anchored

so deeply within you

that I need only pull the line,

counting the fathoms marked by knots

at our milestones.

Like the orcas we visited that spring,

I still click-whistle at you

hear the sound of my voice

reverberating

through depths I did not carve

from seabeds I do not know.

When our words chilled,

did they birth the glacier

scouring new fjords within you?

Or did I navigate only the calm, warm shallows

before letting the riptide of us

pull me

along invisible currents

away from myself?

--

Good luck to those who decide to enter and thanks for taking part!