“
lover,
n.
Oh, how I hated this word. So pretentious, like it was always being translated from the French. The tint and taint of illicit, illegitimate affections. Dictionary meaning:
a person having a love affair. Impermanent. Unfamilial. Inextricably linked to sex.
I have never wanted a lover. In order to have a lover, I must go back to the root of the word. For I have never wanted a lover, but I have always wanted lover, and to be loved.
There is no word for the recipient of the love. There is only a word for the giver. There is the assumption that lovers come in pairs.
When I say,
Be my lover, I don't mean,
Let's have an affair. I don't mean
Sleep with me. I don't mean,
Be my secret.
I want us to go back to that root.
I want you to be the one who loves me.
I want to be the one who loves you.”
―
David Levithan,
The Lover's Dictionary