Sentimentality

Synonyms: death of literature / emotional manipulation practiced by hacks and universally feared by “literary” writers / a thing glutted out by us ecstatically in emails and texts. Topics for further research: Why is it so difficult to convey love and joy yet so easy to find language for everything that was foolish, grandiose, or selfish about our affair? Why can’t I describe the quality of your eyes when we sat in the dark on the floor of the Gershwin Hotel bathroom, me on your lap, just kissing, for two hours? Why did it particularly undo me when your drawing “The Map of My United States” arrived coincidentally on Valentine’s Day, when you probably didn’t know what month it was? Antonyms: all of postmodernism.