Throughout this life, a thread has bound me—
To souls I’ve touched, and those who touched me.
Family, lovers, friends once near,
Now ghosts I cradle year by year
Their absence carves what presence shaped.

While others shed their past with ease,
I bleed for those I cannot release.
For every bond—be it bliss or scar—
Holds a tale, a flame, a distant star
That begs to burn, not fade away.

What gift is greater than a soul aligned?
What lingers longer than a tethered mind?
We leave with nothing, but the names
That echo through the heart like flames—
Memory and legacy, our only claim.

- Niko Randeni