Part D: The A-Z of Unusual Words

Letter E is now live. Find it here.

I encourage anyone reading this to submit an entry for every letter in the appropriate contest page's comments. You will get to participate in a bonus contest for anyone with 26 entries. The deadline for this is the same as the deadline for the letter Z. Just make sure each entry is in the correct letter's comments.

The contest rules are the same for every letter. The long version is here. The short version is below:

1. Choose an unusual word that begins with D. This can be a word from another language, your career, mythology or some other source. Provide a definition, either official or your own.

2. Tell me why you love it and the themes it evokes for you.

3. Write a poem, essay or microfiction based on the word and its themes. Try to keep this to no more than 100-125 words.

4. Mention this contest and link to the contest page.

5. Link to your published story in the comments below.

The letter D contest will end on October 29 at 9PM Pacific time. Letter C winners will be announced before this, and the letter E contest will start at the same time D closes.

How to Win

Two different people will win each time, one for each of the following categories:

Best word and meaning/connection: This prize goes to a great word, definition and/or story about why it's important.

Best poem/story: I'm looking for great writing and a piece that captures the themes it evokes.

My Example:

Dendrochronology: "the science or technique of dating events, environmental change, and archaeological artifacts by using the characteristic patterns of annual growth rings in timber and tree trunks."(Definition from Google's partnership with Oxford Languages)

This is where the total science nerd in me comes out. This amazingly cool science discipline uses tree rings to determine time and date of events. Most people understand how you can count tree rings to age a tree, but dendrochronology does more than that.

When extreme events happen, like major droughts, floods and volcanic eruptions, trees will grow in a different way for a year or two. If there is a period of perfect weather or extra water that promotes vigorous growth, you can also see this in the width of different growth rings from certain years.

In each region, you can find signature growth patterns unique to different decades and centuries. These patterns aren't just used to age trees. Archaeologists can look for these patterns in wooden structures, artifacts and furniture to estimate the age of ancient civilizations. The National Park Service has been using this process to age ruins in national parks and historic sites.

I do this in my own life, also. I can date the year that a song was popular because I remember listening to the CD in my college dorm room. I know the year a picture was taken because I am wearing a favorite red hat or because the dog we had briefly is in the shot. I navigate most of my memories by specific landmarks that accompany the event.

My Poem:

Dendrochronology

If you sliced my

life in

half

-looked for the

day they

left here

forever-

it would be

surrounded

by the

dandelion fluff

in the meadow

where I laid

to hide-

my knees then

were muddy

from late summer

rains, marked

with the bumps

from the mosquitoes

by the neighbor's

pond.

When you cut

your own

to peek at

the same day,

it will be soaked

in the last bottle

of Italian wine

left behind

by mistake

and hidden

behind the

cigarette clouds

from the pack you

keep even

though you said

you quit.

The baby's

life

these years later

will not show

a mark on

that day-

instead a

hint of

shadow

begins and

stretches

across the

days

and years

that follow.

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Good luck to any who enter!