Words, at times, randomly strike me as interesting, captivating or curious. Sometimes I pin them here if I am so inclined, which I was, as I sit here on a waning Tuesday evening with a cup of green tea in my hands and weary eyes looking to the bed and a good book before sleep falls.
Palimpsest: A palimpsest is originally a manuscript page—often parchment—that has been written on, scraped or washed off, and then written on again. Because traces of the earlier writing often remain, the page becomes a layered record of different moments in time.
In a figurative sense, the word describes anything that carries layers of history beneath its surface—cities, memories, relationships, artworks, etc. It suggests something overwritten but still faintly present.
His memories formed a brilliant palimpsest, old sorrows blazing beneath the gold of newfound joy.
