For Matthew

These are my words for my cousin.
even though they are sad,
and he is now gone,
the words give me hope,
that I might live on.

You were a miracle child.
Born under the impossibility,
that your preceding siblings faced.
Their failure was wrought with tears,
and their fates were soon erased.

I was little when the news came.
You were limping because of cancer.
Just three years old,
you went from baby to patient.
Our future plans began to fold.

You were lucky you looked good bald.
When chemo therapy started,
it all went into the trash can.
Again and again you made your mark;
at least nine times, little man.

At eight, you’d made friends all over.
You went border to border,
and coast to coast for cures that failed.
Every time the Neuroblastoma returned,
we all cried and wailed.

I still don’t regret the last day we played.
Although I still blame myself,
because we played so much.
The next day you got so sick,
and it all went downhill and such.

Those are my words for my cousin.
even though they are sad,
and he is now gone,
the words give me hope,
that I can live on.