"The notion that communication can occur by way of black squiggles marching across flat surfaces is, when you look at it, very odd indeed, especially when face-to-face, body-to-body communication is, as we know from sad experience, a long way short of perfect. Even instrumental exchanges with the person sitting opposite at breakfast is often more than we can manage. However we may deceive ourselves in moments of intimacy, 'the other' begins at the skin."
From "Agamemnon's Kiss" by Inga Clendinnen, first published in The Best Australian Essays 1998.
