The Bitterest Bliss

Look, how he holds her, so close to his chest,

He could’ve let go, if he’d loved her less.

Can he save her from a fate worse than death?

Can he steal a first kiss from her final breath?

What was it that struck the life from her eyes?

Was it his because he kept his love in disguise?

Was it the sharp dagger thrust deep in her side?

Was it his reluctance to love, his fear, and his pride?

Oh, but watch, the boy becomes a man,

He looks into her eyes, and realizes he can.

If only he’d not waited so long to leap,

He would not have fallen so hard or so deep.

He confesses his love—she already knows,

But now it’s too late; her life draws to a close.

‘Take me’ He cries ‘Take me, instead.’

Without her with me, I may as well be dead.

‘Listen, love.’ She whispers to him

‘My life is fading, the lights grow dim.’

She holds him tight ‘This isn’t the end.

Someday we’ll be together again.’

He draws from her the sweetest kiss

His heart is filled with the bitterest bliss

Is one kiss enough to save her from this fate?

Was it not enough? Was he already too late?

Her face is now pale, but in a moment of fleeting,

He presses his ear to her chest; her heart is still beating.

Beating, and beating—he closes his eyes.

He holds her hand tightly and whispers goodbyes.

If only one thing can be learned overall,

Though it is better to have lost than not loved at all,

There the two lied, never to part,

He truly died of a broken heart.