Mastodawn

The man four stories up

The man four stories up,
shielded by the shadow
of a floor-to-ceiling window,
appears as smooth
as the man in the moon.

He sips something hot
from a white ceramic cup
and peers out at the blackness
as if we’re all coated in the stuff,

while he is light, and goodness.
A cleanliness amidst the putrid
stenches, the barefoot beggars,
and oily street merchants
blurred together in a pit
of city scum.

See, below him, beings
exist in a lower state
of consciousness
and should simply lighten up.

©2026 | K.F. Hartless

Cover Art: “The Man in the Moon” Maxfield Parrish, 1922

https://youtu.be/Wy45pE0OJm4?si=vabBGj46pwfTDFCg

#brevity #existential #moon #Reflection #socialJustice

Jakob Nitschke May 7

I have been running a social media account of an organisation in the last years and remember how I felt that I had to post a lot back when the organisation was still on twitter. How AI was such a relieve when I didnt have to think anymore to produce tiny useless posts to shoot into this void.

So good twitter is dead (at least for me).

The Courage to Stop https://zeldman.com/2026/04/15/the-courage-to-stop/ #Brevity, #Communication, #Edit, #Editing, #Essentials, #KillYourDarlings, #LessButBetter, #Usability, #Whitespace

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents - The Courage to Stop - State of the Web

Brevity was always a discipline. Now it’s a statement.

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents

WIST Quotations May 4

A quotation from Tolstoy

Memento mori — remember death! These are important words. If we kept in mind that we will soon inevitably die, our lives would be completely different. If a person knows that he will die in a half hour, he certainly will not bother doing trivial, stupid, or, especially, bad things during this half hour. Perhaps you have half a century before you die — what makes this any different from a half hour?

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian novelist and moral philosopher
Path of Life [Calendar of Wisdom; Круг чтения], ch. 21 “Living in the Present,” sec. 5.12 (1903-1911) [(tr. Cote (2002)]

More about this quote: wist.info/tolstoy-leo/83806/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #tolstoy #leotolstoy #pathoflife #brevity #death #goodliving #lifespan #living #mementomori #mortality #prioritization #timelimit

Tolstoy, Leo - Path of Life [Calendar of Wisdom; Круг чтения], ch. 21 "Living in the Present," sec. 5.12 (1903-1911) [(tr. Cote (2002)] | WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations

Yard Sale of Thoughts Apr 28

The Fledglings Sit

The fledgings sit, wings clipped,
waiting on a runway.
What will become of their paper planes
soaring deserted valleys
and migrating vast cities?
Before they took their mouths
from their mother's beak,
they learned to not speak,
sit ,and wait, and fold quitely.

©2026 | K.F. Hartless

Cover Art: ” Airport Painting” Karolina Zglobicka

https://youtu.be/ewRjZoRtu0Y?si=6C56hTh6VhRetUqM

GloPoWriMo#28 Today, try writing a poem that follows the same beats: three sentences, six lines: statement, question, conclusion.

#brevity #existential #GloPoWrimo #napowrimo #nature

Robin Wren Apr 25

May I direct your attention to this brilliantly concise post?

The Courage to Stop https://zeldman.com/2026/04/15/the-courage-to-stop/ #Brevity, #Communication, #Edit, #Editing, #Essentials, #KillYourDarlings, #LessButBetter, #Usability, #Whitespace
#AmReading #Writing

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents - The Courage to Stop - State of the Web

Brevity was always a discipline. Now it’s a statement.

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents

WIST Quotations Apr 22

A quotation from Gracián

The intensity of the favour of fortune is often balanced by the shortness of its duration, for fortune gets tired of carrying any one very long upon her shoulders.

[Recompénsase tal vez la brevedad de la duración con la intensión del favor. Cánsase la fortuna de llevar a uno a cuestas tan a la larga.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 38 (1647) [tr. Duff (1877)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/gracian-y-morales-ba…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #gracian #baltasargracian #brevity #fortune #gambling #goodluck #luck

Gracián, Baltasar - The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 38 (1647) [tr. Duff (1877)] | WIST Quotations

The intensity of the favour of fortune is often balanced by the shortness of its duration, for fortune gets tired of carrying any one very long upon her shoulders. [Recompénsase tal vez la brevedad de la duración con la intensión del favor. Cánsase la fortuna de llevar a uno a…

WIST Quotations

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Christine Sætre-esque Apr 18

2/2 Don’t skip the footnote and comments.

“COMMENTS BY REVIEWER A:

I have studied this manuscript very carefully with lemon juice and X-rays and have not detected a single flaw in either design or writing style. I suggest it be
published without revision. Clearly it is the most concise manuscript I have ever seen …”

#writersblock #funny #brevity

zeldman Apr 16

Brevity was always a discipline. Now it’s a statement.

https://zeldman.com/2026/04/15/the-courage-to-stop/#HumanWritingInAITimes #brevity #WriteBetter #LessButBetter #KillYourDarlings

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents - The Courage to Stop - State of the Web

Brevity was always a discipline. Now it’s a statement.

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents

zeldman Apr 16

Brevity was always a discipline. Now it’s a statement. zeldman.com/2026/04/15/t... #WriteBetter #writing #brevity #usability #KillYourDarlings

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents - The...

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents - The Courage to Stop - State of the Web

Brevity was always a discipline. Now it’s a statement.

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents

John Chapman Apr 12

Why do so few scientists use Fahrenheit? According to Isaac Asimov, the original 100°F "fixed point" may have been based on a sick cow with a fever. A 300-year-old error that still dictates US weather today. Precision matters. #HistoryOfScience #Physics #Brevity #Celsius