‘Farewell’ from Eli the Viking

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If it should be that I grow weak

And pain would keep me from my sleep

Then you must accept God’s will be done

For this last battle can’t be won

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You will be sad I understand

Don’t let your grief then stay your hand

For this day more than all the rest

Your love and compassion stand the test

—

We’ve had too few, but happy years

What is to come will hold no fears

You’d not want me to suffer, so

When the time comes please let me go

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I know you will my needs attend

Just stay with me until the end

And hold me firm and speak to me

Until my eyes no longer see

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When you awake and rush to my bed

To tell me loving thoughts yet unsaid

And when you find that I’m not there

Please do not yourself despair

—

Your fears for me I must allay

I am in fact not far away

I’m around the corner in the next room

Not lying passive in some dark tomb

—

I have been freed from all life’s shackles

And now can help you fight your battles

Towards the end life could not have been tougher

My wish, that other children don’t have to suffer

—

I hope my life was not in vain

With this cancer of the brain

In a quest to fund much needed research

To rid us of this dreadful scourge

—

I shall uphold the Viking name

That’s now achieved some worldwide fame

I shall in true young Viking style

Keep guard and protect you all the while

—

I hope I did not cause you grief

When taking drugs for pain relief

My mood swings put you to the test

But your love for me proved you were the best

—

The best Mum and Aba I could have had

And Noam too you weren’t so bad

You were in fact my loving brother

I would not wish for any other

—

Confusion must have filled your mind

As you witnessed my disease unwind

You wished for ever I’d be around

I hope I did not let you down

—

Noam I shall help your goals to score

I shall be with you for evermore

When you need a guiding hand

Just think of me, then you’ll understand

—

To my friends and rellies far and nigh

I am the eagle soaring high

To Mummy and Aba and Noam too

I am the bright star shining through

—

I’m too young to know wrong from right

Good from evil and to read and write

You’ll remember me as I was in my prime

Unblemished by the passage of time

—

Eli left us late one night

And we can no longer hold him tight

Should we be sad, no, we should smile

That we’ve walked with him for a little while.

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Written with love from Eli’s Pa, Clive Ogilvie, 16 March 2015

Photograph: Eli and his Pa, August 2013, Canberra autumn. Photo courtesy of Lior Jurnou.