Can you die of a broken heart?

Researchers have looked at what goes on in the brain,
and for lovers and addicts it’s exactly the same.

Those who are newly in love
experience joy in their minds from a dopamine flood.

And it’s this same pattern that goes on in the brain
as that which occurs when you’re hooked on cocaine.

So in the first throes of passion you’re literally addicted to love,
and that's probably why those feelings all hurt so much.



From Can you die of a broken heart? on BBC iWonder. Submitted by Ben Mellor.

Observance

Twenty-fourth of May
Vesak, the Day
of the Full Moon,
Twelfth of June
World day against child labour,
Tenth of December

Human rights day,
World sight day,
World book
and copyright day.

Third Sunday in November
World Day of Remembrance
for Road Traffic Victims, First of October
International Day of Older
Persons, Eleventh to twelfth of May
World Migratory Bird Day.

International migrants day,
International women's day,
International mountain day,
International widows' day.

International Day of Forests and the Tree,
International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.



From the United Nations list of international days for observance. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

Backstage

Phaeton chariot and Argus’ head,
One lion skin.
One tomb of Dido, one bedstead
Canopy, old Mahomet’s head.
Iron targets, one Mercury's wings,
City of Rome, one golden fleece
Belin Dun's stable, one bear's skin
Tantalus' tree
And Phaeton's limbs.



Items picked out of an inventory of 'all the properties for my Lord Admiral's men' – the Elizabethan theatre company – taken by impresario Philip Henslowe, 10 March 1598. Via Futility Closet. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

Set upon the étagère

Aftercare, agate ware
air-to-air, antiair
anywhere, arctic hare
Asian pear, bayadere
bêche-de-mer, Belgian hare
billionaire, boutonniere
bring to bear, camel hair
Camembert, captain's chair.

Chinaware, compressed air
county fair, crackleware
Croix de Guerre, debonair
de la Mare, derriere
disrepair, doctrinaire
earthenware, easy chair
en plein air, everywhere
fighting chair, flying mare.

Fourragère, Frigidaire
germ warfare, get somewhere
graniteware, grizzly bear
here and there, hide or hair
hollowware, ice-cream chair
in one's hair, in the air
ironware, jasperware
kitchenware, La Bruyère.

Lacquerware, laissez-faire
Latin square, legionnaire
lion's share, Little Bear
love affair, luminaire
lusterware, magic square
mal de mer, managed care
market share, Medicare
metalware, millionaire.

Minaudière, miter square
Mon-Khmer, morris chair
Mousquetaire, nom de guerre
on the square, open-air
otherwhere, outerwear
overbear, overwear
perfect square, plasticware
polar bear, potty-chair.

Porte cochere, prickly pear
questionnaire, rivière
Robespierre, rocking chair
savoir faire, science fair
self-aware, self-despair
silverware, slipper chair
snowshoe hare, solar flare.

Solitaire, swivel chair
tear one's hair, then and there
thoroughfare, trench warfare
unaware, underwear
vaporware, vivandière
wash-and-wear, water bear
wear and tear, willowware
woodenware, world premiere
yellowware, zillionaire.



From a list of words that rhyme with étagère on the Merriam Webster online dictionary, 31 January 2013. Submitted by Steph Dempsey.

You can say I am a hater

You can say I am a hater
but I would argue I'm a lover
I'm a lover of traditional families
and of the right of children
to have a father and a mother

I believe the earth gets warmer
and I also believe the earth gets cooler

is anyone saying same-sex couples
can't love each other?
I love my children
I love my friends, my brother
heck, I even love my mother-in-law




Quotes by Rick Santorum, candidate for Republican nomination in the US Presidential elections 2012. Specifically, quotes as they appear in Rick Santorum Quotes As New Yorker Cartoons posted by Jack Shepherd. Punctuation has been stripped out and the 'I'm' of line one turned back to two words for the irresistible rhythm. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

I should have drunk more champagne

I should have drunk more champagne. And the rest
of the world can kiss my ass. Plaudite,
amici, comedia finita est.
Better to burn out than to fade away.
Tell Fidel that this failure does not mean
the end of the revolution. I see
black light. I can't sleep. Rain had always been
a harbinger of tragedy for me.
You can stop now; I'm already dead. All
my possessions for a moment of time.
Please put out the light. Please don't let me fall.
I am not in the least afraid to die.
I must go to meet God, try to explain…
Do you hear the rain? Do you hear the rain?



Compiled from the famous last words of real people, as recorded at Wikiquotes. The contributors, in order, are John Maynard Keynes, Johnny Frank Garrett, Beethoven, Kurt Cobain, Che Guevara, Victor Hugo, JM Barrie, George Beard, Abigail Folger, Queen Elizabeth I, Theodore Roosevelt, Mary Surratt, Charles Darwin, Bernard Montgomery, and Jessica Dubroff. The word 'in' has been added to line 12, and a comma substituted for 'and' in line 13. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

An anemone also

This is a whelk.
When it dies its shell lies
On the sea bed until......

A growing hermit crab
Takes up residence.

In his new home
The hermit does not
Feel the arrival of a ragworm,
Which crawls into the same shell.

Later, an anemone also
Settles on his shell.

So the ragworm, anemone and
The hermit, all live together
In an old whelk shell.

When the hermit feeds,
The ragworm takes his share
And the anemone clears up
What is left on the floor.

If attacked, the great claw
Provides an armour-plated door.



Taken from a display in an aquarium on the Cobb in Lyme Regis. Submitted by Nathan Lechler

All Stand to Sing

VERSE 1
Great man, who descended from heaven
Great man, who is a man of deeds.
Savior, supreme leader of the nation
Guiding star of the 21st century.

CHORUS
Leader, great leader,
Great sun of the 21st Century.
Father, beloved father,
Bright Sun of the 21st Century.

VERSE 2
Dear leader, who is a perfect incarnation
of the appearance that a leader should have.
Wise leader, father of the nation,
Father of the people, great sun of life.

CHORUS…

VERSE 3
Beloved and respected father, great
Defender, sun of the nation.
Beloved and respected leader, fate
of the nation, guiding ray of sun.

CHORUS… x2



An evangelical chorus made from the official names of Kim Jong-Il. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

Turn of the Century

Jim Higginson, Jeff Pullinger,
New tweet traffic, John Whittaker.
Jo_Bell, scribble mill,
J Willmoth, Stoo Gill,
Woodward (MW), Steph Walker.

M Suryadarma, Seymikins, Jason Davies,
Alastair Cook, Evans_above, Philosophicles;
Ani Dhorchaidhe, johan vdm_tweets, Bruntonspall,
Kiwi_j, Holmes Annie, Phil Harford, man birth control.

Saxicola, Elspeth Murray, Ambit magazine,
Ally Maughan, chris_emslie, TJ Cashman, Dex Brady;
Firebird Poetry, Phill_dolby, Alasdair North,
Stuart Durber, DK Scully, CA Whitworth.

Rocky
Rutherford, Dreich
Randall Snare, Marika
Rose, Mary Rose Lloyd, Rich Oster
robot

prior
Paul poetry
Perly gates, Joanna
Paterson, Parkers web, Qban
poet

Liz Plane
Lump in the throat
Len Bogorad, Alfrot
Lucie Shuker, Lisa Ansell
Leithing

Crafty green poet HaikuGirl_, handful of stones Adarro,
Elly green poetry ed snow, Beta Rish Ajodasso.
F green Amy Plenderleith, Bertielicious Jaduperreault.

Emily Hewson Daniel J John, Geoff De Geoff Geoff Stevenson,
Toyedi Shrewmaus N Schonken, Glendronach Ben Hodson.
Caroline crew Tolte C John, Scotbower Vicky Osullivan.

Kaslis_1, Pete Marshall 1
J Flamingo 2, Ninja Grrlz 6

Minute story:

Poetry found one night:
stanzas the poetry editor read.
Write, cook, by leaves we live, design tides,
graft poetry, write 0ut loud, muse…
Hunter, weaponizer, moondust writer,
idyllic poet, mark burdz eye view.

Anon, poetry.

Mknight.



Created from the twitter names of our first 100 followers on Twitter. Capitalization has been changed for some of the names and punctuation added. Among the stanzas there are firsts on Verbatim for some poetic forms: the limerick, the Korean sijo and the Crapsey cinquain. Submitted by Gabriel Smy. Thanks for following.

Fool's Parsley

A sonnet

Hedge mustard, hairy tare, mouse-ear-hawkweed,
Long-headed poppy, evening primrose, pale
persicaria, volunteer oilseed
rape, common toadflax, flixweed, field horsetail.
Corn spurrey, coltsfoot, creeping soft-grass, cock's-
foot, common ragwort, cleavers, cut-leaved crane's-
bill, bracken, bramble, black-grass, broad-leaved dock,
black nightshade, dove, Canadian fleabane.
Procumbent pearlwort, prickly lettuce, cow
parsley, fool’s parsley, speedwell, volunteer
potato, spear-leaved orache, prickly sow-
thistle, sun spurge, soft brome, sticky mouse-ear.
Field madder, field forget-me-not, goat's-beard,
Field bindweed, scented mayweed, parsley piert.



Assembled from Garden Organic's list of A-Z weeds by common name. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

£87.88

FINEST HAM, FINEST HAM
FINEST CHICKEN, BONNE MAMAN
DOMESTOS, WHITE GRAPES
TOMATO PUREE, RAZOR BLADES

MUNCH BUNCH, MUNCH BUNCH
CHOC DIGESTIVE, CASHEW NUTS
BRAEBURN APPLE, PEAR HALVES
GALIA MELON, WHLE NUT BAR

TOOTHBRUSH, TOOTHBRUSH
ACTIVIA YOGHURT, HAND WASH
KETTLE CHIPS, SOFT CHEESE
TRACKER BARS, CLEMENTINES

CANDLE BULBS, CANDLE BULBS
SPONTEX PADS, CALPOL
CASE&SON BACON
VALUE K/TOWEL, SHAVING FOAM

FRUBES
DETTOL 500ML
BISCUITS
PAMPERS
CARRS MELTS
W 800G SEEDED
PASTA SHELLS

DEODORANT, DEODORANT
FRST SHREDDIES, FRESH MILK
BAKED BEANS, TUNA STEAKS
CHOC BISCUITS, AFTER EIGHTS

MEATBALLS, MEATBALLS
RICH TEA BISC, CEREAL
R/BERRY CONSVE, FRENCH FRIES
FRUBES POUCH, TOILET WIPES



Tesco receipt, 4th October 2010. The order is changed, but otherwise every single item purchased is included, and appears exactly as it does on the receipt. Mid-line commas added to keep items discrete. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

Legendary Tales of Your Sausage

Get a longer and more robust pole,
Grow your organ into a monster.
Big d1cks get all the chicks;
Your long and hard rod will please her.

Get more length, girth and hardness,
Impress your huge size on her;
Make your underpants bulge today,
Give her the best experience ever.

Better sex with organ pills:
You will reach far deeper inside her.
Bang her till she passes out,
Bang her longer and harder.

Surprise everyone with your increased length,
Cumming has never been stronger.
Be the man every woman desires:
This will make you longer.



Subject lines picked from my Gmail spam folder in the last 10 days, including the title. What happened to all the innocent spam? Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

Meet me in Johannesburg

Honduras, Algeria,
Germany, Nigeria,
USA, Slovenia,
Ivory Coast.

Denmark, Spain, Slovakia,
Ghana, France, South Africa,
Chile, Greece, Australia,
Japan, Mexico.

Cameroon and Uruguay,
Portugal and Paraguay,
Serbia and Italy,
Switzerland.

England and North Korea,
Holland and Argentina,
Brazil and South Korea,
New Zealand.



A cheeky not-exactly-found poem constructed from the 32 teams in the 2010 World Cup, plus conjunctions for scansion. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

Application to renew the photo on a driving licence

Be taken of the full head. Be
in sharp focus and clear. Be free
of any reflection
or glare from glasses. Have been taken
in the last month and be a true
likeness of you.
Not have any shadow in it. Be
a colour photo (we
will not accept black and white
photos). Be taken against a light
grey or cream background. Not be
damaged, torn or marked. Be free
from redeye.

Not have anything covering your face.
Not wear a hat or head covering unless
this is for a medical or
religious reason. Be facing for-
ward and looking straight at the camera. Have your
eyes open. Look natural but without expression
(your mouth should be closed, you should not be grinning,
frowning or raising your eyebrows). Not wear
sunglasses, tinted glasses or have your hair
across your eyes. Not wear
glasses if the frames cover your
eyes (we recommend that you remove your

glasses).

These are the standards for UK driving licence photos according to the application form. The first stanza is: 'Your photo must…', the second: 'You must…'. I have changed the list order but nothing else. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

Poems from the Menu Bar #2-#4

iPhoto/Photo

Get info,
batch change,
rotate clockwise
rotate counter clockwise.
My rating
duplicate,
move to trash.
Revert to original.

iTunes/View

View as list,

as grid, as cover flow.
View options,

show column browser, show
artwork column,

show genius sidebar. Go
to current song.

Video size visualizer, show

visualizer full screen.

Switch to mini player.

iMovie HD/Markers

Add book, Mark.
Delete book, Mark, delete all.
Book Mark's previous book, Mark.
Next, book Mark, add chapter.
Mark, er, delete chapter.

Mark, er, show pod.
Cast U R L S.

More poems from the menu bars of software applications on my Mac (after #1 and before #5). The first is arranged identically to the menu, the second has alternative breaks, while the third breaks up words and punctuates liberally. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

The System Eats You

Don't know if it's appropriate we go

swimming; you go – where I get inspiration.
I noticed your interest, your picture, few
years ago, used to draw attention.

please please

We haven't talked a while: share your life goals –
table is here, stop the discrimination.
Party arrangements too wild for you? The

system eats you. Fantastic demonstration.

please pay attention
please be with us
please

Another poem from the subject lines of recent junk email messages in my spam folder (read the first one). I simply take the whole subject lines and put them together with a little additional punctuation. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

Tick Tock

In Nineteen hundred and three
Benjamin Ginsberg,
–the founder of rooibos tea–

rode into the remote Cedarberg Mountains
in the Cape and found farmers
making a rough brew from a wild plant.

Using traditional tea curing
techniques he perfected
–this delicious tea–

now enjoyed round the world.
Today his family continues
–their unbroken rooibos tea–

tradition from Nineteen hundred and three.
Tick Tock tea is still made
to his original specifications.

Gentle and soothing, rooibos tea
is well known for its many health properties.
–Naturally caffeine free–

Tick Tock can be enjoyed by the whole family
at any time of day, or as the ideal
bedtime drink. And it is high

in antioxidants that can help protect
your immune system against free
radicals. Organically grown,

–Tick Tock rooibos tea–
is still harvested by hand and cured
naturally in the clear Cedarberg air.



From the side of a Tick Tock 80 tea bags box. Dashes have been added to accentuate the rhymes and phraseology more. Submitted by Amy.

At rest

A nonet

At rest. After much suffering, rest.
Sadly missed. In the midst of life
we are in death. Satisfied
when I awake with thy
likeness. Wife of the
above. Not gone
from love. Thy
will be
done.

I missed a trick yesterday. Having collected all those different length sentiments from gravestones in Histon Road Cemetery, the world was my oyster in terms of (smaller) poetic forms. Instead I banged out this free verse. So here's a nonet from the same material to make up for it. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

Alan to Zoe

Alan, Alfie, Ami,
Benedict, Clementine, Eilidh.
Ethan,
Ewan,
Gemma, Georgia,
Huxley, Isaac, Joseph, Leah,
Liam, Macie, Marika.
Mateus, Matthew,
Muadh, Niuniu,
Pietro,
Risha, Seungji, Shilo.
Tamzin, Taslima, Tyan,
Yonatan.
Zoe.



My son has just started school. This list contains the first names of all his classmates (memorised from their pegs). He's having trouble remembering them. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.

Who Are You Looking For?

Who are you looking for?
Penelope Twee –
Search for a username,
first or last name.
Did you mean Penelope Tree?
We
couldn't find anyone named
Penelope Twee.

Who are you looking for?
Gilbert Same –
Search for a username,
first or last name.
Did you mean Gilbert Lee?
We
couldn't find anyone named
Gilbert Same.

Who are you looking for?
John Bob Bobson –
Hmm. Our
name search server seems
to have wandered off.

Who are you looking for?
Wigan Pier –
Sorry, but
you've reached your limit
on searches for now.



These are the words, in order, on the Find People page of Twitter and what happened when I entered the names above. Submitted by Gabriel Smy.