Foreward:  This poem is meant to communicate back and forth with the source poem.  To contrast it in ways, and to mirror it in others.  I have spoken with Carolyn and she agreed I should post her poem in its entirety (and gave me permission to do so).  The messages, clearly, are intended differently.  Think of it as a mirror through which to compare, contrast, complicate the individual readings of each.  I HIGHLY suggest you order her book posthaste; it is literal genius in its endless layers, intended and otherwise (and she would point to the external genius as muse).  All italicized words are hers.  Borrowed or appropriated (with permission).  Expect a few more epigraphs or responses this month.  I include the link to her author website and Shadelandpress (where you can order) at the bottom of this post:

IV.

“I reach for you with hands that hold
what isn’t there—your phantom curves
a silhouette in which you glow— 
your eyes are soft, your throat exposed.
We make believe. We make belief
of murmured need and hungry reach.
I trace your waist, the sketch a blur
of tangled truths—you gasp against
my view of you, the love that holds
you near yourself. The effort was
a battlefield, but now, just sky—
a light swept sea.  And here we are.
                        You come to me like breaking dawn.
                        You know—I’ve loved you—all along.” 

                                 –        Carolyn Grace, from Grenadine and Other Love Affairs; Invariance  

Exposed

I message you with words that hide the truths
I must not say—your read receipts
realities removed—the closure closed,
a vulnerable that never was revealed.
I make believe.  I make belief        (for two)
& fashion what I thought impassioned touch
from lingering, backseat moments, like a shrine
to build a scaffold silhouette; you buck
against my view of you, a love that forced
you from yourself.  The effort is
an empty battlefield, both blood & crow
& darkened sea.  & there we are:

             you go from me, pale gloaming in my heart;
             you know—you knew—I loved you from the start.

https://www.carolyngraceauthor.com

https://smpbooks.com/product/grenadine-and-other-love-affairs/