Beauty in an economy of words

For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Used.

- by Ernest Hemingway

It was the first time I encountered flash fiction, a writing style of extreme brevity. Take a look at the poem above. A simple string of six words, yet its meanings are far from simplicity.

What happened to the baby? Why weren't the shoes used? What made the owners want to so coolly divorce themselves from this pair of baby shoes?

For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Used.

Each letter begins with a capital alphabet. Bold, forceful, discordant. Jarring.

This dignified economy of words belies its complexity. In this microcosm, we see the world.