Nighthawk

Nighthawk

n.
a recurring thought that only seems to strike you late at night—an overdue task, a nagging guilt, a looming future—which you sometimes manage to forget for weeks, only to feel it land on your shoulder once again, quietly building a nest.

Nighthawks is a famous painting by Edward Hopper, depicting a lonely corner diner late at night. In logging, a nighthawk is a metal ball that slid up and down a riverboat’s flagpole, to aid pilots in navigation.

Dead Reckoning

Cover image for the Dead Reckoning word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Altschmerz

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

Nachlophobia

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

Sayfish

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

Indosentia

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

Nodrophobia

close-up of a stained shirt