the meaning of love

what does it mean,
this phrase
so often thrown about?
"i love you."
when said by a mother
to her child,
you have to figure
that it is something
almost biological.
how could one
not love that
which she has made
from her own flesh?
but, what about
when it's said,
"i love sugar pops."
what sort of love is that?
maybe we should have
some other word for this,
like eskimos for snow,
so that love
doesn't get worn out.
and what of true love?
i hear so much about it,
but no one mentions
true hate.
aren't these two sides of
the same coin,
one quite easily flipped?
when you say to me,
"i love you."
does it mean
that every cell of your body
and every spec of your soul
are eternally devoted
to the
mystical union
that is us?
or, would a translator
from some other world
understand it
more to mean,
"i really want
to keep having sex
with you,
and that phrase
seems to do the trick."