I refuse to be consumed by these endless crashing waves
To sink within unnoticed depths, a fate no one craves
My head will break above the sea, despite hit after hit
For against the tide of time, I shall never submit
I refuse to be a forgotten painting within a shattered frame
A docile, floating memory of a soul that could not be tamed
The irony! To fade not in wholesome darkness but an empty grey
No, not even seen in the night, simply a fallen leaf stepped on during the day
I refuse to be the final smoking breath of a dying ember
A distant melody, never to be heard or remembered
But instead, a flame to persevere through each dousing rain
A flame to burn a thousand years smoke caught in every lung
Not a sullen crescent moon, whose life begun to wane
To live in every word ever spoken, every song ever sung
I refuse, I refuse, I refuse to fade out in an empty grey
I refuse, I refuse, I refuse to be a crumpled leaf on a passing day
I refuse, I refuse, I refuse for the winds of time to blow me away
I refuse to land on the shadowed island of history, a castaway