They say the best kiss is the one that has been exchanged a thousand times between the eyes before it reaches the lips, but during this quarantine I´ve learned words are the first kiss.
We are used to judge by appearance, to touch before we listen, we connect with our bodies before than with our minds. But now, being isolated we can only touch each other through our words. So I wonder, is it possible to taste someone’s lips by hearing them? I think we can. During this quarantine I’ve met someone. We’ve never seen each other before but we have been constantly writing, exchanging thoughts, ideas, dreams and passions.
And let me tell you, meeting someone like this is as exciting as reading a book, maybe that’s why this person has touched me in a way no one else has before. I´ve always had a thing for books. And now I believe perhaps this is the best way of actually getting to know someone. When you read a book, you have to go line by line, you can not skip the parts you do not like or change something, you can only accept what’s written there. And isn’t that what love is all about? Acceptance?
A book can surprise you, make you cry or laugh, but most importantly it can make you feel things you never thought possible. Maybe you get surprised by each word, or maybe you get bored and just leave it unfinished. Or maybe were someone else left it you will find inspiration.

“We are used to judge by appearance… But now, being isolated we can only touch each other through our words.”

So why can we not fall in love like that? By reading and listening to what someone else has to say, without touching them.
I guess talking by whatsapp is the same, some days you talk a bit more, you read full chapters, and some others you just ignore the book on your nightstand, those unopened conversations waiting to be disclosed.
But don’t get me wrong, even though I am a hopeless romantic and I do like to believe love stories, like the ones the classic writers wrote about can still happen, I know spending time together is part of falling in love. Few things in life compare to the feeling of running your fingers through the hair of your loved one, to go to bed in the night and smell the scent of their skin on your pillow, to hear them laugh, and to taste their lips, yes, all those cheesy things… nothing will ever replace those kind of things. But what I’m trying to say is that being apart does not mean growing distant and does not stop us from getting to know each other, on the contrary, it can draw us together if we are willing to listen.
In my country, we call this quarantine “Social distancing”. Well, I disagree with this term. The person I talked to you about has been kind enough to show me his world, he blossomed to me, like a flower opens its petals, one by one, until he showed me all of its colours. He is a palette of emotions and he has painted my (grey quarantine) world.
He speaks words the same way notes come out from a perfect played violin. And with each word, he adds a stroke to his painted world. A person who speaks in such beautiful way, for sure has lips that taste like sweet wine. So yes, I believe lips can be tasted on a glass of words.
Maybe when all this is over, we won’t meet. Maybe this story is a short book, an epic distance love story which took place when an evil virus attacked humanity. I will not tell you the end though, as it is uncertain. Anything can happen these days. But for sure, this book is getting more and more interesting.
So go ahead, and start your own book! After all, nowadays, reality overcomes fiction!

Words and Photography by Victoria Petersen
instagram.com/vipetersen
vipetersen.wordpress.com
Model: instagram.com/claraesperon