Precarium
The precarium (plural precaria)—or precaria (plural precariae) in the feminine form—is a form of land tenure in which a petitioner (grantee) receives a property for a specific amount of time without any change of ownership. The precarium is thus a free gift made on request (or precarius, whence "prayer") and can be revoked. The grantor can reclaim the land and evict the grantee at any time, and the grantee's hold on the land is said to be "precarious". (The adjectival form "precarial" is also used.) The precarium arose in the late Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages it became a legal fiction, and the two parties usually signed a contract specifying the rent or services owed by the petitioner. Some precaria eventually became hereditary fiefs. In the Merovingian period the feminine form (singular precaria) became common, but in the eighth century the term beneficium began to replace precarium, although the institutions were practically identical.
Ecclesiastical use
In feudalism, the use of church lands to support warriors contributed to the growth of precaria in the eighth century in Catholic Europe. Modern historians have sometimes called these lands fiefs; however, to the extent that they were church property and not property of the lord or king—although that was a flexible distinction in the ninth and tenth centuries—they were not fiefs. The distinction was between the right of ownership in the ecclesiastical manner (jure proprio et more ecclesiastico), which remained with the church, and the right of benefit and usufruct (jure beneficiario et usufructuario), which was ceded away.
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Parakeey
by: R.E.M.you wake up in the morning
and fall out of your bed
mean cats eat parakeets
and this one's nearly dead.
you dearly wish the wind would shift
and greasy windows slide
open for the parakeet
who's colored bitter lime.
open the window
and lift into your dreams
lately baby
you can barely breathe.
a broken wrist
an accident
you know that something's wrong
you fold the leavings of your past
no one knows you've gone.
the sunspot flares of the early
nineties light up your wings.
and scan the shortwave radio
it's tracking outer rings.
the tectonic dispatcher shifts
to smooth the ocean floor
and flattens out to warmer winds
of Brisbane's sunny shore.
where buddhas tend to mending wrists
a tea made from the leaves
of eucalyptus fragrances
and coriander seeds.
you wake up in the morning
to warm Pacific breeze
where mean cats chew on licorice
and cannot climb the trees.
open your window
and lift into a dream
baby, baby
baby starts to breathe