Láment

=“Lament”= by Gillian Clarke

For the green turtle with her pulsing burden, in search of the breeding-ground. For her eggs laid in their nest of sickness.

For the cormorant in his funeral silk, the veil of iridescence on the sand, the shadow on the sea.

For the ocean's lap with its mortal stain. For Ahmed at the closed border. For the soldier in his uniform of fire.

For the gunsmith and the armourer, the boy fusilier who joined for the company, the farmer's sons, in it for the music.

For the hook-beaked turtles, the dugong and the dolphin, the whale struck dumb by the missile's thunder.

For the tern, the gull and the restless wader, the long migrations and the slow dying, the veiled sun and the stink of anger.

For the burnt earth and the sun put out, the scalded ocean and the blazing well. For vengeance, and the ashes of language.

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Gulf-War []

Ahmed English:  [|/ˈɑːmæd/], or  [|/ˈɑːmɛd/] []


 * burden**

burden, burthen , weight , weight down (verb) - weight down with a load

charge, saddle , burden (verb) - impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to; //"He charged her with cleaning up all the files over the weekend"//

burden, load , encumbrance , incumbrance , onus (noun) - an onerous or difficult concern; //"the burden of responsibility"//;//"that's a load off my mind"//

load, loading , burden (noun) - weight to be borne or conveyed

effect, essence , burden , core , gist (noun) - the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work

burden (noun) - the central idea that is expanded in a document or discourse


 * breed**

engender, breed , spawn (verb) - call forth

breed, cover (verb) - copulate with a female, used especially of horses; //"The horse covers the mare"//

breed (verb) - cause to procreate (animals); //"She breeds dogs"//

breed, multiply (verb) - have young (animals); //"pandas rarely breed in captivity"//

breed (noun) - a special lineage; //"a breed of Americans"//

breed, strain , stock (noun) - a special variety of domesticated animals within a species; //"he experimented on a particular breed of white rats"//; //"he created a new strain of sheep"//

half-breed, breed (noun) - half-caste offspring of parents of different races (especially of white and American Indian parents)

breed, strain (noun) - a lineage or race of people


 * cormorant**

cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo (noun) - large voracious dark-colored long-necked seabird with a distensible pouch for holding fish; used in Asia to catch fish


 * iridescence**

opalescence, iridescence (noun) - the visual property of something having a milky brightness and a play of colors from the surface


 * lap**

lap (verb) - lie partly over or alongside of something or of one another

lick, lap (verb) - pass the tongue over; //"the dog licked her hand"//

lap, swish , swosh , swoosh (verb) - move with or cause to move with a whistling or hissing sound; //"The bubbles swoshed around in the glass"//; //"The curtain swooshed open"//

lap, lap up , lick (verb) - take up with the tongue; //"The cat lapped up the milk"//; //"the cub licked the milk from its mother's breast"//

lave, lap , wash (verb) - wash or flow against; //"the waves laved the shore"//

lap (noun) - the upper side of the thighs of a seated person; //"he picked up the little girl and plopped her down in his lap"//

lap (noun) - an area of control or responsibility; //"the job fell right in my lap"//

lap, lap covering (noun) - the part of a piece of clothing that covers the thighs; //"his lap was covered with food stains"//

lap, overlap (noun) - a flap that lies over another part; //"the lap of the shingles should be at least ten inches"//

lap, circle , circuit (noun) - movement once around a course; //"he drove an extra lap just for insurance"//

lick, lap (noun) - touching with the tongue; //"the dog's laps were warm and wet"//


 * gunsmith**

gunsmith (noun) - someone who makes or repairs guns


 * armourer**

armorer, armourer (noun) - a worker skilled in making armor or arms; //"a sword made by a famous English armorer"//

armorer, armourer , artificer (noun) - an enlisted man responsible for the upkeep of small arms and machine guns etc.

armorer, armourer (noun) - a manufacturer of firearms


 * fusilier**

fusilier (noun) - (formerly) a British infantryman armed with a light flintlock musket


 * dugong**

dugong, Dugong dugon (noun) - sirenian tusked mammal found from eastern Africa to Australia; the flat tail is bilobate


 * tern**

tern (noun) - small slender gull having narrow wings and a forked tail


 * gull**

fool, gull , befool (verb) - make a fool or dupe of

gull, dupe , slang , befool , cod , fool , put on , take in , put one over , put one across (verb) - fool or hoax; //"The immigrant was duped because he trusted everyone"//; //"You can't fool me!"//

chump, fool , gull , mark , patsy , fall guy , sucker , soft touch , mug (noun) - a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of

gull, seagull , sea gull (noun) - mostly white aquatic bird having long pointed wings and short legs


 * wader**

wading bird, wader (noun) - any of many long-legged birds that wade in water in search of food


 * scalded**

blister, scald , whip (verb) - subject to harsh criticism; //"The Senator blistered the administration in his speech on Friday"//; //"the professor scaled the students"//; //"your invectives scorched the community"//

scald (verb) - treat with boiling water; //"scald tomatoes so that they can be peeled"//

scald (verb) - heat to the boiling point; //"scald the milk"//

scald (verb) - burn with a hot liquid or steam; //"She scalded her hands when she turned on the faucet and hot water came out"//


 * blazing**

blaze (verb) - shine brightly and intensively; //"Meteors blazed across the atmosphere"//

blaze away, blaze (verb) - shoot rapidly and repeatedly; //"He blazed away at the men"//

blaze (verb) - burn brightly and intensely; //"The summer sun alone can cause a pine to blaze"//

blaze, blaze out (verb) - move rapidly and as if blazing; //"The spaceship blazed out into space"//

blaze (verb) - indicate by marking trees with blazes; //"blaze a trail"//

blaze, blazing (noun) - a strong flame that burns brightly; //"the blaze spread rapidly"//

blazing, blinding , dazzling , fulgent , glaring , glary (adjective) - shining intensely; //"the blazing sun"//; //"blinding headlights"//; //"dazzling snow"//;//"fulgent patterns of sunlight"//; //"the glaring sun"//

ablaze(p), afire(p) , aflame(p) , aflare(p) , alight(p) , blazing , burning , flaming , on fire(p) (adjective) - lighted up by or as by fire or flame;//"forests set ablaze (or afire) by lightning"//; //"even the car's tires were aflame"//; //"a night aflare with fireworks"//; //"candles alight on the tables"//;//"blazing logs in the fireplace"//; //"a burning cigarette"//; //"a flaming crackling fire"//; //"houses on fire"//

blatant, blazing , conspicuous (adjective) - without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious; //"blatant disregard of the law"//; //"a blatant appeal to vanity"//; //"a blazing indiscretion"//