their proposal would never come to fruition
his goodbye would be their last
he held her close and caressed her back in his hands
for the last kiss they would have seemed like many more would soon follow
he promised they could be forever and life would be full of love

his train took him to a plane across the ocean with her in his mind
his letters he sent would be held close to her when she slept
imagining the words were his face
his letter his arms
but soon they would cease forever

she was in the apartment they once shared
when she fell to her knees
and tears once wiped away by his hands would continue to fall
their would be no return of his sweet smile and he would not smell her fragrant aroma at least not in this life
he was shot in the head with a rifle in his hands in a land she had never seen except in books