poets say “i love you” in many different ways,
they rarely actually say the three words

they’ll say “i want to write poetry about you”
or “hold me until i’ve come up with ten metaphors about how it feels to have your arms around me”

they’ll say “you’re like a cup of iced tea on a hot summer day”
or “your eyes are like ocean waves ready to pull me out to sea”

they’ll say “you make me want to write happy poems”
or “you make me feel less depressed”

poets rarely say “i love you” because it never has held enough meaning to them, because to be loved means to be hurt.