from an e-mail I wrote to a loved one today:
The English language has a stilted love vocabulary. My forced use of
the word 'love' in the previous sentence is an example of this. There
are different kinds of love, and loneliness, and desire. 'Desire' is
probably the only concept with an almost-adequate set of similes. The
Greek concepts of love as Eros, Philos, and Agape seem to be on the
right track, but still not specific enough. It's enough to make one
start describing emotions using color and flavor terms. It would work,
as long as reactions to the described conditions were universally
understood. I'm simply mango about you, I'd say. And you would know
that I meant exotic, sweet-slippery satiety, wearing aromatic leather
and enveloping a monstrous, cattongue-textured heart. Sticky, staining
and slightly acidic. Easily preserved.