This poem was written for my sister.

You were young when you left us, confused in our misunderstanding.
We did not know and you could not tell
us.

I remember vividly you coming home from
the hospital, your head completely bald,
alien.
I stared, as did we all. We did not know and you could not tell us.

I see you getting all the attention,
all the presents on Christmas. Why were
you so special? Jealousy seethed
within me. I did not know and you could
not tell me.

You were young when you left us to
grow up with only a small memory of you.
Your life was so short. You sacrificed
yourself so that we shall live.

You left us to make our mark upon the
world just as you made yours within
our souls.
You gave us your life, a life that was
young, blossoming. Only you knew the
magnitude of your offering. You knew
and you could not tell us.

But later we came to know. Later, when
the seasons change and the wind blows.
Later, when the sun shines in a blue
sky.

When I see billowy clouds, I think of,
because that's how you touched me,
briefly, softly.
And then you were gone.

You were young when you left us to
remember you and love you as we have
never done before, to let us grow,
radiate and expand.

I will always remember you, for you
will always have a place in my heart,
tucked ever so gently away.

You were young, but you had the
knowledge and wisdom of on much older.
You knew, but you could not tell us.