How can I know about death
When I know so little about life
What assurance can I offer?
What martyr has spoken to me?
What folded flag offers wisdom?

The place of my birth is a story I was told
The life I have lived is as weak as my strength to tell it

No one claps as I ascend the stairs
Only my daughter and son guide my lonely steps
What vows can I offer to a past that testifies against me
I raise my hand to no man
For what I swear to you serves no purpose
The setting sun returns silently
As long as I live I can only live day by day
And pray that you to believe in me by night

Whatever code I honor
I will not speak of it
It will burn silently inside my heart

Upon my last breath you may lay a wreath
And as it falls upon the fire that was once my body
Do not cover my eyes with the coins of Caesar
Let them instead see you from the other side
For the vision I bring to our Lord are not the words of a man
But instead the gift of you that I return to his womb