Notes on Heartbreak

by Annie Lord

I find that too often words fall short, reducing the overwhelming swell of feeling to an isolated sensation as though it was just one thing and not all of you at that moment.

Roland Barthes says tears are the truest language of love because they are sent from the body. ‘Words, what are they?’ he asks. ‘One tear will say more than all of them.’

I use crisps like edible spoons. I find that food is best when it’s deep-fried or inside bread or both.

Mum likes eating Lindor chocolates from the fridge, and when she’s finished one box Dad puts another in its place. In fact, there are often three boxes stacked up ready, waiting. He brings her croissants on Saturday morning, bacon sandwiches on Sundays, carbonara when she’s busy with work. Food is love in many ways, or at least it’s one of its messengers, like flowers or paying someone to fly a plane with a dedicated love note trailing through the sky behind it.