Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil

Ecsis

n.
the haunting sense of mystery infused into certain random details that beckons you to wonder how it ended up here at this point in time—marveling at a patch of white on a dog’s chest, a bubble trapped in an old window, a glimpse of Saturn’s rings shivering in a telescope lens—knowing that behind the thing itself is a long chain of causes and effects that veers off into the shadows of prehistory, anchored somewhere near the dawn of time, even though the end result is somehow right there in front of you, shimmering in place.

Indonesian eksis, to exist, to be. Pronounced “ek-sis.”

Ellipsism

a hand clawing at a wall

Knellish

a blurry image of a person lying on a bed

Rialtoscuro

a blurry image of a light source

Rookish

a stone tower with a person seated on top

Nementia

Cover image for the Nementia word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Daguerreologue

Daguer-reologue

a man sitting in blurred silhouette at a desk

Kairosclerosis

Cover image for the Kairosclerosis word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

1202

Cover image for the 1202 word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

On Tenderhooks

Cover image for the On Tenderhooks word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Mcfeely

Cover image for the Mcfeely word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Emodox

Cover image for the Emodox word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Wollah

a person with shapes raining on them

Halfwise

a train coming towards the camera shot from the tracks