I LOVE YOU

I love you

And

When I say I love you

I am not saying: “I want to fuck you”

“Please marry me”

“I will take a bullet for you”

“You mean the world to me—you are my world”

no.

When I say I love you

I am saying

I love you, in the most honest and beautiful way

I am saying

That I appreciate you and your existence

I am saying, a greeting, a hello, an honoring

What I mean is

The world would not be complete without your life’s presence in it.

I love you

And all that you are

I am thanking you for being a friend

When I say I love you

I am blessing you with the most essential prayer

Giving thanks to the creator, your mother, your father, for your mind, blood, and spirit

I am

Making a connection between our hearts, or light

I love you

Says, we are together—in peace—and I am happy

“I love you”

is the most precious gift

I make, and it is also,

The most mundane, the essential

Preciously abundant

Yet wrapped in a packet of words,

Humm, glance, breathe

I love you

And thank you

For being here with me

Thank you for being a friend

I love you