There is what feels like such an undeniable truth of emotion in the poem.

The contrast in the first and last verse is really powerful. From the first verse where 'soulmate' becomes 'her' and love is thrown away by someone who didn't value it, to instead seeing love as dying. You capture the duality of heartbreak, both the outward push of hurt, and the need for it to have been real and died.

The middle verse really carries a feeling of being gutted, of an overflowing love, and a void left in its place, and with it, the feeling of having none left to give. It holds a deep pain so vast and resounding, refuge is sought in a hollow shell of nothingness.

Yet

Would I still have tried to live for what dies?

the fact that it ends on this question carries so much, even after all the emotion, there question of was it worth it, would I do the same again, still remains. Very accurate portrayal of the nature of love, how easily it twists and hurts, how hard it is to truly get over, the endless wondering.

As for your friend, probably something not too dissimilar. Fucking sucks, to think someone loves you completely, and find they hadn't meant a word of it. There is something almost transcendent in the way people can and do confide in strangers, a trust of humanity, and level of deeper understanding that can pass between people who have never met before, and will probably never meet again.