My Brother

By Alex Wissenbach

Dear Oli, my brother, my home-grown friend
You’re a person who gave more than took.
A person who learnt, and read, and wrote,
Wisdom so fit for a book.
A boy who when smiling, it made you smile too
For his smile spread across his whole face.
A man who valued people for their minds not their things
That’s why you have all filled up this space.

You had an art for changing fear to curiosity
Taking every challenge in your stride.
You were a gift to our family, for 25 years,
Enhancing every single part of our lives.
Your life was cut short, it’s still hard to comprehend
Yet you lived full and you lived so well.
You lived a life that not many people can claim
In just a quarter of the timescale.

You were my laughter trigger at the table
When laughter was not due.
Your rhymes and songs about goats and hyenas
Those I laughed at too.
Our sense of humours always matched up
We were always completely able
To understand each other’s relative weirdness
Which externally appeared unstable.

You are and were so many things
Yet being a brother is my number one
And you’ll continue to be my brother,
For as long as I live,
And even after my last day is done.
You pushed me to try new things,
To be inquisitive, courageous and kind,
And despite you not being physically present,
You’re still increasing the depths of my mind.

Your 25 years of experience,
Life, love and learning,
Will be continued on by all of us
And we’ll keep your pages turning.
As I’ve come to realise - something so abundantly true
One country is too small for a person like you,
Perhaps one world is too.

My brother, my friend,
It is hard to conclude,
You are truly one of a kind.
There isn’t, and will never be, anyone like you
You’ll always be in my mind.