Goodbye John

I was cleansing my inbox when I saw this poem I wrote in August 2004 for my good friend John, who died at the age of 31 of liver cancer. I wrote this while I was 38,000 ft up in the sky amongst the clouds, and thought of him, after attending his wake.


May the Lord be with you and guide you
As you walk towards the garden of eden
Would you make a stop at the clouds on your way to heaven?
It looked good from up there-all white and blue
Not a view of the earth's madness

Would you bounce or fly past through the fluffy clouds
--without the fear of falling?
Would you be happy?
Where would you go?
Would you stop and linger before moving on
--onto the garden where upon entry
only the most soulful music can be heard?

That is home.
Where your forefathers await you,
telling you not to worry
because you have lived a good life,
and God wants you back.

There you will walk amongst the flowers that we take
for granted here.
There you will stop and smell the tulips, roses and
orchids.
What would you do John?
Would that remind you of love?
Would you regret not having to say goodbye to her?
You were so good, and so brave, 'til the end.

Sadly, we watched you sleep with tears in your eyes,
When we last saw you, you were full of life,
always with a huge and ready smile,
excited over your future.

Gone too soon.
But not in our hearts.
May your soul rest in peace. God calls, and it is your time.

****
Postscipt:Cancer of the liver is only detected at its late stages (unless one undergoes annual executive check-up), as the liver has no nerves that send signal to the brain that there is pain. People with hepatitis are 60% susceptible to having liver cancer.

P.P.S.
He died after proposing to his long-time girlfriend Claude, who finally decided to come home from Singapore to make their wedding plans. He died within a few months of her coming home.