All'alba vincerò! You always were invincible. You grasped every prize you tried for You charmed every girl you fancied You won every argument – Or at least drowned out the opposition With logic and bombast and humour. Life was your game, You loved life, Surely death could not touch you. Then its shadow loomed large And, ever the scientist, You talked statistics. You shone through the gloom And, ever the mother, I talked faith. Survival rates weighed you down, Knowledge of your strength buoyed me up. ‘Beat the odds,’ I said. ‘If no one has ever survived this, be the first!’ One raised eyebrow was your reply. But you tried, for your sons, how you tried. You took all they threw at you and said, ‘Give me more. Faster. I’ve a job to do here, I must grow my boys to men.’ But your logic won this argument too. In the silence left behind, I hear the echo of your love.