As I incise my epitaph,
I will strive to make it true
I've saved a laugh to whisper it
for after all I do
They've grayed a path upon my sky
I survived to make it blue
I've written all my epitaph-
so I can strive to make it true-
far before I have to die,
for it's me I've written to
I write with what I'm given
as I've pied my every hue
I've bled a red- The comfort,
whether it's ever in my clasp
I reached for things far beyond
what I could ever grasp
I've had more faith than reason,
etched in red its every drop
For I've known that faith begins
where my reason had to stop
I've written with my sweat
that there's a key for every lock,
as I opened up my every door
when I heard the chances knock
For they'll never knock the door down,
carved in all my final thoughts
And I knew I could have anything
whether I could have everything or not
As upon my hair, the sable'd
would soon become a grey
Before I've aged disabled,
I've scrawled it all away
I've adaged all the dictums
that one could ever say
And maximed all the proverbs
that've ever come my way
I've written down my epitaph
with everything I could
The wisdom of "Because I can
doesn't mean I should"
And I've judged my every man-
if I sadly ever would-
by how he treats another man
who couldn't do him any good
And with tears I've written painfully
that I've joyed and that I've hurt
The past was once the future
is what I've written in the dirt
I've chiseled that I loved enough
through pain and jealousy
With a tear I've written blindly
when it's hidden like a ghost
I've chiseled that I loved enough…
even those who hated me
For it's he who least deserves it
is he who needs it most
I've lived and loved and tried and cried…
and I've always kept in mind
that life's more than just what happens
between the hours of nine to five
I've struggled on the straightest roads
no matter what the cost,
because no man upon the straightest road
has ever gotten lost
And I know I've written long enough
or perhaps you've read it slow
My whole life's been a balance
of holding on and letting go
So remember what I've written
if you must remember me
I've written all my epitaph
for everyone to see
