I Have Grown To Love You Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Not connecting on a level,
That evaporates an empty space.
You and I here sitting.
But not face to face.
And yet,
Once alone...
I can fill that vacancy with an imagined love.
A love remembered,
You had graced.
Somehow a fading of that wished,
Had come between us to be replaced.

I hold your hand tighter now,
In memory.
And with more intent...
With you gone.
Then ever I did with you in view...
But not close to me.
And not caring that the time we knew,
Moved on.

And I sat not wanting to be that close to touch.
Not even wishing to be near,
To hold you as such.
As if I had dismissed,
The fragrance of a cherished flower.
Once...
I could not get enough to sniff.
Or lift too high to admire its light!
As the Sun gently kissed.
Admiring it from dawn until night.
Hungering for the meeting of our lips.
Now...
It is with distance,
I have grown to love you!