La Cuna

Cover image for the La Cuna word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

La Cuna

n.
a twinge of sadness that there’s no frontier left, that as the last explorer trudged his armies toward the last blank spot on the map, he didn’t suddenly turn for home, leaving one last island unexplored so we could set it aside as a strategic reserve of mystery.

Latin lacuna, an unfilled space or hole + Spanish la cuna, cradle. Pronounced “lah koo-nuh.”

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Lyssamania

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

Austice

a leaf imprint in the mud

Ne’er-Be-Gone

Cover image for the Ne’er-Be-Gone word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Énouement

a hand opening a curtain

Los Vidados

Cover image for the Los Vidados word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows