to say 'i love you' is an easy way out.

before i met you, i always believed
that to say 'i love you' was the purest,
most beautiful thing one could say to someone else.

but now i see that to say 'i love you'
is to take the easy way out.
and i refuse to do you that injustice,
so i will tell you something true.

i dream of waking to your arms around me,
your body keeping me warm.

i dream of lazy sundays, reading comics,
eating cocoa puffs and not giving a shit about the world.
i dream of you, looking at me with adoration in your eyes
and blindness to my faults.

and i know i complain about the cold,
but to be truthful, i lie.
i love it, because you always indulge my complaints
and wrap your arms around me, your warmth encompassing me.

i love the way you smell, the way you perfume
my world with your very presence. your smell intoxicates me,
surrounding me and making it hard for me
to think of anything else
but you.

you know the way i always complain when you call late at night?
i lie about that, too.
i love it. the way your voice makes it
through the power lines to me, travelling across
the city and into my ear.

it never fails to make me smile, the way you can read my mind.
the way i don't even have to speak for you to know what i want.
and that leads me to my final point.
i want you. now, then, and forever.

i just wanted you to know, that when i say 'i love you',
i'm really saying so much more.