When you were young
I love you was a learned response.
There were shallow meanings to it
Something you quickly toss at your parents
When you are running late to school

Then you move out
And you see their backs hunched over.
They tell you the same stories over and over
And you say i love you with meaning this time
Because they may not have much time

When you were in high school
You said I love you to her
As a correct response, not as a genuine one.
There was again no real meaning
Just three words to her underpants.

Then you got married
And you see her graduating college
A gleam in her eyes, that spark of intelligence
You said I love you with meaning
Because she swept you off your feet.

So I guess,
love is inside us.
But we never learn to really say it first
We aren’t even aware
Until it comes on, like a lightbulb.