A Final Sigh

A moment's pause, a spectral flight,

Above a form devoid of light.

An old man’s heart has ceased to play,

His spirit hovers in the gray.

A life's memories unfold,

A woven tapestry, tattered and old.

His youth, so radiant, clear, and bright,

Sprung forth like dawn erases night.

He’d run through meadows kissed with dew,

His heart was young, his troubles few.

A love, a girl with auburn hair,

In his heart, she was always there.

A wartime bullet, cold and harsh,

Brought reality to a march.

Their love, it blossomed amidst the sorrow,

Promised whispers of a tomorrow.

Yet a letter, inked in grief,

Brought our soldier to his knees.

His lover's words were soft and sad,

"I can't bear this, it's too bad.

I'm marrying John, he's kind and steady,

For this war, I'm just not ready."

The bullet of heartbreak pierced much deeper,

Than any enemy sniper's keeper.

Years flowed like a meandering stream,

Yet his heart held that golden dream.

A quiet life of solitude he led,

For his heart, it seemed, was forever wed.

He was good, but lost, a tragic fate,

Living with a love he could not satiate.

Now, above his lifeless shell,

His soul lingers in the farewell.

The pain, the love, the loss, the thrill,

The silent echoes, now grown still.

In the vast expanse of death's outlier,

Burns the brightest love's undying fire.

Through the good and bad he'd trod,

Now he lays before his God.

The flashback ends, his spirit sighs,

Love's lost ghost eternally flies.

For in his death, he did not lie,

He died of a love that could not die.