If you break your heart when all about you
The world keeps turning on without you
If you can't trust yourself to let anyone help you
But keep on living just to make it through
If you can fly only to end up dropping,
Or losing your wings along the way,
Or losing hope that kept you from stopping,
Until you quit trying, throwing your life away;

If you can't love- because it brings too much pain
If you can't laugh- because it only ends in tears
If you can't live with sorrow and shame
And face those two bullies without fear
If you can bear to live your life unspoken
Silenced by those who hate all dissenters
Or watch your dreams shatter in front of you, broken
And choose flight rather than become a fighter

If you can't make one heap of all your trust
And risk it on one person you think you can love
And be wrong, and start again with only dust
And repeat the process without giving up
If you can't force your mind and body and soul
To serve your heart long after it’s stopped working
And so hold on when there is nothing to hold
Except the Hope that keeps them from shirking

If you can't talk above a whisper
Or walk without tripping- nor staring at your feet
If foes make you hesitant and insecure
If all men laugh at you, and you accept defeat
If you can't fill your final breath and minute
With sixty seconds' worth of hardships you've overcome
You'll miss out on life and everything that's in it,
And- which is more- you'll be a coward, my son!