Building a Vocabulary

My phone carries an app for the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. I like to kid myself that I know the meaning of each new Word of the Day posted on its front page. Most of them are familiar but, I will admit, some of the words baffle me. For instance, I had no idea what arrogate meant until it appeared front and center on today's app.



Building a Vocabulary


An-tho-phile
selected Word of the Day:

someone/something fascinated by
                                           flowers ---

bees, butterflies, and me.

Lilacs and lavender
               provender for them,
                                  aloe for my soul.

But weedkilling gly-phos-phates
unwittingly maim monarchs
                               and painted ladies

         while

neo-nic-o-ti-noids
inadvertently blindside beehives
on our way to the perfect lawn or
                 a bumper crop of corn.

We plant butterfly friendly bushes,
         scatter milkweed seeds,
             tally pollinators,
    rejoice at twosomes and more.

But lep-i-dop-tera and hy-me-nop-tera
              continue to dwindle
      here, there, and ev-ery-where.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor