BAY AREA POETS REVIEW 

TRY THIS: Write a poem using one of the words below to stand in-the-stead of a word for an emotion you have been recently struggling to identify or express, i.e., "I have been feeling a pinch of late when I am with you."

Starting Off Small

blurb [1907 coined by Gelett Burgess]. A short publicity notice, as on a book jacket; a shot summary or words praising a creative work.

squib [1525, origin unknown] A short  humorous or satirical writing or speech; a short journalistic news item or piece (filler); a small firecracker, or a broken firecracker in which the powder burns as a fizz, ie., a dud firecracker; a small electric or pyrotechnic device used to ignite a charge, once used in coal mining to break coal away from the rock. Used today in motion picture industry, squibs are used to simulate bullet hits on live actors.; someone regarded as insignificant or mean-spirited (Archaic).

piece    [13th century Middle English from Anglo-French from Vulgar Latin pettia of Gaulish origin; akin to Welsh peth for thing] A thing considered as a part of some larger thing; a portion; an object or member of a group or class; a firearm; a given distance as in “a far piece”; a sexually attractive person; to mend by adding pieces, to join or unite pieces; a coin; an opinion (he said his “piece”); an instance or example (a silly “piece” of acting); vulgar act of copulation; a female partner in sexual intercourse; a severe scolding; a share in activity or profit.

dab    [14th century Middle English dabben, to strike] a sudden blow; a small amount, especially of something moist or soft; a gentle stroke or touch (daub); any of various flat fishes (sand dab); to cover lightly or as if with a moist light substance; a slang word for fingerprint (British); an expert or skillful man, a dabster.

drib [1709 dribble and driblet] a small amount especially as used in the phrase “dribs and drabs”; a negligible amount; to fall or let fall as if in driblets.

dollop [circa 1812, origin unknown] A measurement; a large amount or small amount of something, mostly liquid, usually food; a soft mass or blob; a semisolid lump; a modicum as in a “dollop of wit.”

soupçon [1766, from French suspicere, to suspect] A slight, but appreciable amount; an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude; a little bit, a trace.

smidge, smidgen [1845, probably from English dialect smitch)] A very small amount or part; a tiny or scarcely detectable amount; a person small of stature but large in heart; small amount of something sweet, emotionally sweet (a smidge of afffection); a small child.

skosh    [1952, from Japanese, sukoshi] A small amount, a smidgen; a jot.

mite    [1350, Middle English from Middle Dutch and Middle Low German, originally a Flemish coin of very small value; contraction of Latin minitum, for minute] A small but appreciable amount; to a small degree; a small contribution of money; a small object, creature, or particle; a small insect of the same class (Acarina) as ticks.

tinge    [1577, Middle English tingen, from Latin tingere, akin to Old High German for dunkon, to dunk] A small amount of something, especially an added color; to color lightly; to affect slightly as in thought or feeling; another color besides the main color of a reptile.

speck    [before 12th century Middle English specke, from Old English specca] A small spot, mark, or discoloration; a tiny amount; to mark with specks.

pinch    [14th century Middle English pinchen, from Old North French pinchier] In cooking, a very small amount; to squeeze between the fingers or the jaws of a tool; a touch; to nip, wither or shrivel; to subject to strict economy or want; to take money unlawfully; to take into custody; to narrow; to strain; to be miserly (Nautical) to sail too close into the wind that a boat’s sails shiver and its speed is reduced; to drag an oar at the end of its stroke.

In 2010 we introduced “The Word Blurb,” a column devoted to that tiniest unit we use to make a poem: the word. And, what better way to begin than with a short list of words for small things. In no way is this a comprehensive list, and some of the words we left on the cutting-room floor include: dash, shot, dram, bit, jot, iota, and drop.

As the Word Turns, Spins, Revolves, Whirls, Twists

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer         (from W.B. Yeats)

circle to move around as in a circle; to move in a circle round something

eddy [Middle English ydy, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse idha] to cause or move as if in an eddy (a current as of water or air moving contrary to the main direction); a tendency against main opinion, tradition or history; miniature whirlpool

gyrate [Latin gyrare, from gyrus circle] to revolve around a fixed point or axis; move in spiral or spiral-like course; oscillate or vary in repetitive pattern; coil

pivot  [from Old French, possibly related to Provençal pua, a tooth of a comb] a shaft or a pin on which something turns; the act of pivoting (as when one foot stays in the same place while the body turns)

revolve [Middle English from Old French, from Latin revolvere, to turn over, roll back, reflect upon] to orbit a central point; to turn on an axis, rotate

rotate [Latin, 1785, rota] having the parts flat while spreading or radiating like the spokes of a wheel

spin [Middle English spinnen, from Old English spinnan, poss. Indo-Euro. roots] to draw out and twist (as with fibers into thread); to cause to rotate swiftly; twirl; the act of spinning; to drive or ride rapidly; a swift whirling motion; a state of mental confusion; the intrinsic angular momentum of a subatomic particle

swerve [Middle English swerven, from Old English sweorfan to rub, scour, swipe, file away; akin to Old High German swerban to wipe off, Welsh chwerfu to whirl; first known use: 14th century] to turn aside or be turned aside abruptly from a main course

swirl to move around; to alter direction, veer around

turn [Middle English turnen, from Old English turnian, tyrnan and Old French torner, both from Latin re, to turn in a lathe, from tornus, lathe, from Greek tornos; see ter- in Indo-Euro roots] to cause or move around an axis or center; rotate or revolve; to cause or change position by moving through an arc of a circle; to reverse the side so; to change position so that the underside becomes the upperside; to give a rounded form or shape; to spade or plow; to fold, bend or twist (something); to revolve in the mind; the condition of being twisted or wound; a deed or action having a good or bad effect on someone; to hand in, give over; to stop the operation of; to inform or deliver; to cause or begin the operation of; a propensity or adeptness; a transaction on the stock market involving a sale and a purchase; a characteristic mood, habit or style; a brief theatrical act

twirl [perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian tvirla to twirl; akin to Old High German dweran to stir; first known use: 1598] to rotate or revolve quickly; to twist or wind around; to move or spin around rapidly; in baseball, to pitch

twist to turn or open by turning; to pull, break, or snap by turning; to rotate or revolve

veer [Old French veer,virer] to turn aside from a course, direction or purpose; to change direction suddenly; to shift clockwise in a direction (used of the wind); to turn the course of a ship by turning the stern to the wind while advancing windward; [Middle English veren, from Middle Dutch vieren] to let out or release a line; [from Dutch vieren, from Old High German fieren to give direction] Nautical: to slacken or pay out, cable or chain

verse [Old English vers, from Latin versus a furrow, literally: a turning (of the plough), from vertere to turn] poetry as distinct from prose; a single metrical line in a poetic composition; a division of a metrical composition as in a stanza or hymn; a poem; the art or work of a poet

verso [Latin vertere, to turn; from the New Latin verso folio] left-hand side of a page, opposite to a recto page; the page that is turned; the back of a coin or  medal; back-side of a sheet of paper

wheel [Middle English, from Old English hweol; Indo-Euro roots] a solid disk or rigid circular ring connected by spokes to a hub, designed to turn around an axle passed through the center; resembling such a disk; the act or process of turning; to roll, turn

whirl  [Middle English whirlen, probably from Old Norse] to revolve rapidly around a center or an axis; to rotate or spin rapidly; to have the sensation of spinning; a cloud of dust or something spinning;  confusion or giddiness

wind to wrap (something) around a center or another object once or repeatedly; to go along (a curving or twisting course); a single turn, twist, or curve