A poem for Daniel

Your name was Daniel,
You had something called leukemia,
And no matter how hard I wish, you are no longer alive.

I remember you had brown eyes,
Creamy milk chocolate;
Gentle innocent colt eyes.

I think we played together once or twice,
I might have chased you around the big orange play toy a couple times,
But it cost a heavy price.

Sometimes you would disappear days at a time,
Chemotherapy, our teacher would say,
And then she would make us sing some weird nursery rhyme.

When you were present, you acted fine,
No one ever would have guessed you were fighting for your life,
Or that you were falling off the tight rope line.

You had the brightest smile,
White teeth sparkling,
Though strangely gently somehow, fragile.

You prepared me for the cruelty of the world,
You might not have meant to but you did
The second your life unfurled.

That morning I went to school like always,
Your parents were there, sometimes they came, but you weren’t with them,
Not like the other days.

All the first graders sat in one room,
Sitting Indian style in a half circle around your parents,
The atmosphere was full of doom and gloom.

The seconds ticked by silently then your mother started to cry,
It was horrible,
It was the first time in my life I ever saw an adult cry.

You had died that night,
It was almost as if you were a candle,
And someone blew out your light.

Your organs failed you,
The heart monitor went completely flat and they could not bring you back,
Your time was up, you went through.

Daniel you were five,
You had a cancer called leukemia,
And you are no longer alive.

You battled through life,
Though not very long,
I will never forget you.

You were buried long ago,
In the grave yard under a slab of rock,
son, brother, friend summing up your life.

But you were so much more,
those words do not do justice to the outstanding boy you are,
and the third world war you fought against yourself.

R.I.P buddy, fly high