The Echo of Her Absence

I have lived a great life,
Through love, through loss, through strife.
I do not wish for death to call,
Yet living now feels no life at all.

When she left, the sun grew dim,
A hollow echo replaced the hymn.
There were reasons to stay, so many to do,
But none felt whole without her too.

I carried on, each day a fight,
Chasing shadows in the fading light.
Her voice, her touch, a distant dream,
Dissolving now in the rushing stream.

I wanted her still, but her heart was clear,
No place for me, no room near.
So I let go, though it ripped me apart,
A shattered soul, a quieted heart.

I have loved, I have lost, I know the cost,
The pain of holding what’s already lost.
And though I stand, I am not whole,
For she carried away the best of my soul.