The Means to Preserve

There is a light at the edge of the sea
 That keeps on beckoning me
 The glow is not hard to miss
 When washed up against the abyss
 In the darkness it waits
 For man to unseal its gate
 Only the eyes are to blame
 For what's read by a candle's flame
 I swear that I'll take the grey skies in stride
 Just please keep the black from my side
 Blood of a shadow's heart
 Can never flow in the dark
 Close your eyes and you'll
 Always stay here
 Nothing to hide from or fear
 So bring me the shield, not the sword
 But bring me nothing I've adored
 Just bring me the means to preserve one body
 And I will ask for nothing more
 Await no fate
 Too late, too late
 So bring me the shield, not the sword
 Bring me a coward's last reward
 Cause if you grant me the power to fight this battle
 I will keep begging you for more
 We have harnessed the idea in our minds
 That the sky beyond the wood must be divine
 But wherever we tread our roots shall be planted
 And the tress will grow in little time
 Stars of the frozen night
 Don't guide my way, don't aid in my plight
 Let me for once adjust my eyes
 And let the days roll by
 Hide while you can
 They will see you
 Those with the wounds in their flesh
 They'll say "Hope is worth the mess"
 Don't make a sound
 They will hear you
 And bring down the fire from above
 That cruel flame, they'll light it
 And they'll call it love
 Maybe you'll find the strength after all
 Maybe we're not destined for the fall
 But all I ever saw
 Deep in the mirror of your eyes
 Was a candle lit just to fight the cold
 And a child born to forget the old
 But I swore to you I wouldn't live that way
 Let the pieces fall where they may
 Light at the edge of the sea
 Has taken control of me
 I grasp for all that I wish
 As it hovers above the abyss
 I know now that I'll never be void
 Of desire until I've destroyed
 Both the compass and the map
 So there will be no way to turn back
 To places where freedom prevails
 Where even darkness can fail
 I've come to see that I don't want that choice
 Take all I have, take my voice
 Sleep at the edge of the earth
 Far from the spring of life's
 Rebirth
 After the years spent in here
 I'm still not in the clear
 The realization draws near
 That all we will ever know is fear