Most of us will never know
How dark this world can seem
When life becomes more nightmare than a dream.
So to all of you who have survived
A visit to the edge,
I trust that you will understand this pledge.
I promise I will always leave
The darkness for the light.
I swear by all that's holy
I will not give up the fight.
I'll drink down death like water
Before I ever come again
To that dark place where I might make
The choice for life to end.
I've found that as I travelled
Through the inscape of my land
That mountaintops make valleys in between.
And when that nameless sadness
Like a cloud comes over me
I look back on all the brightness I have seen.
I realize that though my world
Might seem so torn apart,
Most often it is joy that breaks the heart.
And that I am the richest man
Though I must beg for bread,
For the very One who might condemn
Has called me friend instead.
I will always leave the darkness for the light.
I will not give up the fight.
