"i love you" should not be a phrase
thrown around by insincere folk
to describe fake feeling,
to justify an ill-thought decision,
or as a bandage for every problem

when did "i love you" lose its purpose,
its innocence?

i wish "i love you" meant a beginning
i wish it could be independent of artificiality
i wish it still represented a sacred bond between open hearts
so unlike it does these days

i can only dream of hearing someone say it
with passion, with sweetness, with authenticity
as if someone like that even exists