A dark friend lies to us all
with lips like white iron
and breath of rot

the echoes are louder for some--
     some lose

others keep on
fighting tooth and nail
shouting back with all their will

we cannot lose to a shadow
cast by this poisonous spire
we call doubt
confusion
pain
anything that drags us away
from what we already struggle
to hold onto

do not listen
do not look away
from the light that we all know
keep on the fight
we will make it

just as the darkness is adopted by us all
it is the light that has a place of
     belonging
we all know the pain
stay here and hear the truth
stay here and bask in this life
stay here

it is all here