The Widow's Mirror (Cartagena)

[Verse 1] They called me widow before the vow, Before the world began to spin. Long before my porch grew green, I buried futures I'd only seen. He came like thunder, gently hushed, With hands that trembled, spirits crushed. The first was lost to a soldier’s call— The second rose after a fall. [Verse 2] We wove a life from tattered thread, A home of sunshine, words unsaid. He carved my name in splintered wood, And whispered, "This time, I'll be good." He spoke of crowns, a shadowed weight, Of mirrors fractured by cruel fate. But here, he let the silence bloom, Chasing his shadows from every room. [Chorus] Oh, Cartagena, hush your tide, Don't let the past decide his stride. He wore no title, sought no throne— But I knew the man, and him alone. If I'm a widow, let it be For who he was, eternally. No fire lit, no blame confessed— Just a love remembered, truly blessed. [Verse 3] We heard of rebels in the hills, Where freedom whispers, and silence fills. He watched the embers, felt the sting, The pull of what he'd stopped being. Then a scholar came, with words like smoke, Old histories, a burden spoke. He claimed, "This peace was only lent— A trial, a seed, not an endowment." [Bridge] I poured the tea as shadows grew, His hidden past, revealed anew. They said he’d once betrayed a quest— But truth walks bare, not always dressed. He took my hand, looked in my eyes, Not king, not phantom, just gentle sighs: "There's something calling past this frame— Not for power, not for fame." [Final Chorus] Oh, Cartagena, dim your flame, The man I loved wore a borrowed name. I gave him refuge, peace to find— He gave me dreams, too vast to bind. If he must leave, no word I’ll chase, My love finds freedom in his space. No chains of sorrow will I weave— Just quiet blessings as he leaves. [Outro] (The gentle lapping of the sea. A soft, distant knock, like wood on wood. Then stillness, fading into silence.)